Legal Commentary

R.I.P. Susan Atkins

By Jeralyn

Susan Atkins, 61, has died of brain cancer in a California prison hospital.

Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008 as she neared her fourth decade of incarceration at the California Institute for Women in Corona. The cancer caused paralysis and the loss of one leg.

Convicted of eight murders, Atkins served 38 years of a life sentence, which made her the longest-serving prisoner among women currently held in the state's penitentiaries, said Thornton. That distinction now falls to Patrcia Krenwinkle, who was convicted along with Atkins for the Tate-LaBianca murders

Atkins was serving a sentence of life, not life without parole. She was denied parole for the final time early this month. My view: [More...]

Parole boards have a duty to consider more than just the severity of the offense. Susan Atkins has had a model record of behavior while in prison. By only considering the heinousness of the crime, the parole board has usurped the power of the court and nullified her sentence, unilaterally changing it to life without parole.

That our society could not show mercy to a paralyzed, dying prisoner with one leg, who was no longer a threat to society, shows we still have not recognized, as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King tried to teach us, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind."

R.I.P. Ms. Atkins.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 25, 2009 (boomark / email).