In article <nj5kptgthd26k8ugbjb32ag1uoapfmh3p7@4ax.com>, ptsc says...

>
>On 8 Sep 2001 00:04:10 -0700, GS <GS_member@newsguy.com> wrote:
>
>>In article <90ab01c5.0109072209.c5a4cbd@posting.google.com>,
>>triffel@earthlink.net says...
>
>>>Tex Watson, the man responsible for physically killing 9 people (the
>>>Manson Family murders), is up for parole on 10 October 2001. There is
>>>a strong connection between Manson and scientology. If you are
>>>interested in preventing his parole you can write to the BPT.
>
>>>His prison ID number is: CDC B37999
>
>>The parole hearing is a standard procedure afforded inmates. I guarantee you
>>that Tex Watson has absolutely no chance of being paroled.
>
>He had a ghost of a chance of being paroled, due to his bogus pretense of being
>a "born again Christian." But that was before he got caught exercising
>Scientology ethics--he was running a fake "religious organization" that he got
>caught misappropriating funds from.
>
>This insane murderer can't even stop committing crimes while in prison for >life.
All of the people involved in the Charles Manson murders go up for parole on a regular basis. They have already served longer sentences than any other people convicted of similar crimes, under those same conditions. What happened was that originally, they all got the death penalty. Then, in the early 70s, the death penalty was abolished and their sentences got commuted to life in prison with possibility of parole, so this is the category they fall under. All this happened before the death penalty was re-instated in California and before sentences were given without possibility of parole.

Tex Watson, Leslie Van Houten and others were cult members who have already paid a high price for their involvement. I am currently reading a very interesting book called *The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten*. She is deeply remorseful and takes full responsibility for what she did. I believe that these people have suffered and been punished enough, although the chances of any of them ever being let out on parole are very slim. I am convinced by what I have read that these former cult members are truly reformed. Manson was only connected to Scientology in that he studied it in prison and there is no way that any of these people have any formal connections to Scientology or would go back into any kind of cult. These people have been out of their cults for 25+ years now and the chances of them ever going back are about the same as the chances of my going back to Scientology -- Nil.

Manson himself is locked up and also goes up for parole on a regular basis, but he has no chance of getting it. In the prison where the women were taken to in the early 70s, fortunately the Warden there had some knowledge about cults and how they control members and these women have been fully rehabilitated. I don't know alot about what Tex's situation is, but he did actively participate in what happened more than the women did.

I do know that none of them are shirking responsibility for these acts, even though they were under the spell of Charles Manson at the time they did them.

Personally, I believe that some compassion and mercy is in order. Just look at all the horrible things people did for the Guardian's Office and yet when these people left Scientology, many have shown themselves to be kind, loving, decent people who would not hurt anyone, left to their own devices. I believe the same is true for the young people who got caught up in the Manson cult.

Monica Pignotti

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