when it's a certainty the criminal will never be released.

I imagine Manson has no illusions, but there are other prisoners, equally dangerous (if not more so), who go through this same pointless ritual. It seems we could save some money if we just recognized the realities of certain situations and chose not to waste everyone's time.

A prisoner doesn't have to attend. Manson is just a meglomaniac who likes the attention.

The ironic thing is, I've heard Vincent Bugliosi say he thinks Krenwrinkel could be released into society with no problem, and that she is the only one who has ever felt remorse for their part in the Tate-LaBianca murders. He didn't say she SHOULD be released, only that she COULD be.

I don't know about that. She is certainly rehabilitated by any measure that used to count in such things (as is Leslie Van Houten, and, I would suggest, Bobby Beausoleil), but Krenwinkel was actually the most active in these slayings after Tex Watson.

I think Van Houten should be released, and Beausoleil, too (he's a strange case, since he would have been paroled a long time ago if his conviction wasn't Manson related). But Krenwinkel? I don't see how that happens.

She is the most rehabilitated, and the only one who truly shows remorse. I trust Bugliosi's judgment on this.

None of them should legally get out, since they were given the DP.

I don't agree on that. Van Houten strikes me as remorseful. The reason Bugliosi doesn't like her is that she thinks she should get out, while Krenwinkel has basically said that she will not actively seek parole. Beausoliel would have been out 15 years ago if his conviction didn't have the Manson jacket hanging on it. He was not involved with Tate-LaBianca. Van Houten was not convicted of the Cielo Drive (Tate) murders, since she wasn't there. Krenwinkel was at both murder scenes and actively participated in murders at both scenes (probably killing Abigail Folger and Rosemary Labianca herself, though Watson certainly helped her with Folger).

The commutation included the possibility of parole. That's the legal sentence, and that's what should be enforced. At that point, these people should have the same possibility for parole as any other person convicted of a similar offense. The fact that their crime was a media sensation shouldn't be a factor in the parole possibility.

how would he survive? on what funds? where would he live? he's obviously not employable.

SSI is $854.40 per month, which includes the State Supplement to the Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Yes, it is tax payer (non-Social Security taxes, Social Security Administration runs the SSI program, but uses general revenues NOT Social Security Taxes for the SSI program) but it is NOT Social Security (but since Manson is over 65, he is viewed as being "disabled" and thus eligible for SSI).,

For more on SSI and California:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/11125.pdf

$854.40 is still cheaper then keeping Manson in prison, if we can prevent him from doing other harm (Unlikely, thus Manson stays in Prison).

He'd fit right in as a consultant for Newt.

He and his followers committed an atrocious crime.

Texting Man Runs Into Bear

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/texting-man-runs-into-bear_n_1418128.html?

No remorse, no apology. . . He'd do it again if he could. . . . This is appropriate to keep him in PRISON for the rest of his sorry life.

i think he usually gets parol when these things come up

He pops up every now and then and does his crazy act for the tv cameras. I'm sure he keeps it up in prison as well. He knows if he's ever paroled, he wouldn't last a day as there are plenty of people out there who would gladly go down in history as the guy who offed Charles Manson.

TlalocW

Maybe more.

He's an institutional man. He prefers prison, I suspect.

Looks like Romney will get the GOP nomination then.

any explanation at all.

No, a thousand times no, they belong exactly where they are. They earned it. And I have no problem paying my taxes for them to sit right where they are. Forever.