Leslie Van Houten and St. Maria Goretti's Big Day.
Yesterday for some reason I thought a lot about Leslie Van Houten's 19th attempt to get paroled from her life sentence for being a Manson Family murderer. Since it was also the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, it seemed like a sign that we should finally parole this "model prisoner" after 40 years behind bars.
The beautiful St. Maria Goretti was stabbed to death by a neighbor who could only pierce her devotion to purity with a knife. She forgave him while dying in the hospital and he turned his life around.
Van Houten should get the same treatment other less significant offenders get when they are up for parole. I'm just as suspicious of courts imposing extra harsh sentences to celebrities as I am of courts favoring them. E.g., Paris Hilton got burned for being famous.
However, after talking to some prosecutors in L.A. County I learned that it is extremely rare for someone serving a life sentence to ever get paroled no matter what kind of transformation they've undergone, even if we forget about their giggling during gruesome court testimony.
My favorite Catholic tradition is the call to imitate the Saints. I can forgive Van Hauten, and (even Charlie if he would just answer one of my emails), but charity really demands that we don't get caught up in her celebrity at all, out of fairness to other offenders similarly situated.
I felt compelled to write this to combat the legions of Manson sympathizers trolling around Ricochet.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Leslie Van Houten and St. Maria Goretti's Big Day.
Forgiveness and mercy are not the same. Forgiveness is a willingness to love in spite of injustice; to care for someone who has hurt you or others. Mercy is a suspension of punishment.
Our courts focus too much on motivations and hearts. We need them to prevent offenders from repeating their crimes and to deter future crime through punishment. Judging the offender's heart and providing balance is God's work. In a case of murder, the court's main consideration should be what danger releasing the murderer or failing to provide an adequate example poses to society, rather than whether or not the murderer has "payed" for the crime. Human beings are incapable of fulfilling justice in such cases.
Re: Leslie Van Houten and St. Maria Goretti's Big Day.
Well said Aaron. Thank you.