Letters to the Editor: Leslie Van Houten is out of prison. Her victims are still dead (via latimesopinion )
? Anti-death-penalty advocates constantly assure us that life in prison is a more severe punishment than execution, and now we see the speciousness of that argument.
That she was on drugs and duped by Charles Manson is no excuse. She was an adult who chose to take drugs and follow Manson.Van Houten deprived the LaBianca family and our society of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca’s lives. She does not deserve to be free for the simple reason that Rosemary LaBianca did not deserve to be stabbed to death 14 times.Van Houten, now 73, as a drug-addicted and easily manipulated teenager, participated in the gory murders of innocent people.
But Gov. Gavin Newsom succumbed to political pressure in trying to block Van Houten’s parole. Add that to the calls from conservatives, many of them surely Christian, for continued vengeance despite their doctrine of punishment for sins followed by redemption and salvation. I suppose that does not apply when your crimes draw too many new crews.
Since Pfeiffer is on the side of a woman who repeatedly stabbed her victim, then capped her atrocity with a refreshing slurp of chocolate milk from her victims’ refrigerator, one gets the impression his definition of “mean” is quite flexible.Douglas Soesbe, Palm SpringsThe Times’ coverage of Van Houten’s release takes a myopic view. Stop framing the issue as whether the convicted deserves a second chance or the victims deserve to see her die in prison.
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