# Should Charles Manson be released? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920 "2012-04-05T16:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/102 "2012-04-08T14:14:15Z")
> [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](#): > > Damien Echols is almost certainly innocent. I was talked out of that by an attorney friend. Perhaps he is. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/103 "2012-04-08T14:56:32Z")
Let me check. Are Gary Hinman, Leno and Rosemary LaBianco, Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger still dead? Yes? Then Charles Manson should still be in prison. When they’re alive again, we’ll consider letting him out. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/104 "2012-04-08T17:32:36Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Tsk Tsk. I would have thought that it is obvious for a law student;). If a person in an identical situation to Manson would get parole, then he should also. If in his jurisdiction normal practice is that lifers with his record get parole after a certain period then he should also be so entitled. As for discretion, as you would well know, that even the widest discretion has to be objectively applied.🙂 But like Wheelz said, who can Manson compare himself with to bring an abuse of discretion charge? Was there some other guy that recruited a hippy cult of young people and brainwashed them into committing mass murder that has served 40 years of a life sentence that was granted parole by California, but Manson is being denied because he is Manson? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/105 "2012-04-08T17:43:13Z")
It is obscene that Manson is still in jail. It costs the taxpayers over $60,000/year to keep him in jail-and this does not include medical care. He should be released to live on the streets, as a homeless person. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/106 "2012-04-08T19:25:54Z")
I bet there are folks on the 'Dope who would recommend parole for Adolf Hitler. Yes, release ol’ Adolf as a homeless person to recruit followers who need lebenstraum (sp) in the inner city. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/107 "2012-04-08T20:16:57Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > It is obscene that Manson is still in jail. It costs the taxpayers over $60,000/year to keep him in jail-and this does not include medical care. > He should be released to live on the streets, as a homeless person. Worth every penny. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/108 "2012-04-09T12:15:22Z")
> [@XT](#): > > …and maybe a sandwich. Liberal! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/109 "2012-04-09T12:25:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > As for discretion, as you would well know, that even the widest discretion has to be objectively applied.🙂 By definition, discretion does not _have to be_ objectively applied. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/110 "2012-04-09T12:29:13Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Evidently, he is once again eligible for parole. [Archive blogs](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/charles-manson-now-77-gets-new-chance-at-parole.html) > > I don’t see a terribly compelling argument against parole, myself. I mean, what’s he going to do? Never. He has either killed or directed the killing of enough people. I don’t see a compelling reason to give him another chance. For the protection of society he should be confined for the rest of his life so he can’t hurt anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/111 "2012-04-09T13:35:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’d be willing to cut a deal with Roman Polanski if they let him come back and deal with Manson. Hand grenades at two paces. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/112 "2012-04-09T13:38:57Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Nah, too lenient because he’d be unconscious from lack of oxygen and cold or too cruel because he’d have too long to be screaming in terror. > > Release him from 500 feet instead, avoids both issues. Good point. Vigilante torture murder is always the best remedy. Really. I wish we would finally do away with these mamby-pamby, bleeding heart, “trials in a court of law” and just behave as our inner-troglodytes command us to–KILL THE BASTARD!!! IN THE MOST HEINOUS WAY POSSIBLE!!! That’s progress! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/113 "2012-04-09T14:00:11Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I bet there are folks on the 'Dope who would recommend parole for Adolf Hitler. Hell, if the 9/11 hijackers had survived and were sentenced to life in prison, I betcha some people would vote for parole of them. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/114 "2012-04-09T15:17:43Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > It is obscene that Manson is still in jail. It costs the taxpayers over $60,000/year to keep him in jail-and this does not include medical care. > He should be released to live on the streets, as a homeless person. Wasn’t that essentially what happened to him after his incarceration before this one? He got out jail had no job or skills, convinced people to follow him, conned his way into some ranch property, and then started sending kill squads out into the night. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/115 "2012-04-09T15:21:11Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Wasn’t that essentially what happened to him after his incarceration before this one? Pretty much, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/116 "2012-04-10T02:53:10Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Wasn’t that essentially what happened to him after his incarceration before this one? He got out jail had no job or skills, convinced people to follow him, conned his way into some ranch property, and then started sending kill squads out into the night. Maybe that’s what ralph meant. He was figuring it was time for a Manson Family reunion tour like all those other sixties nostalgia acts. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/117 "2012-04-10T06:02:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Let me check. Are Gary Hinman, Leno and Rosemary LaBianco, Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger still dead? Yes? Then Charles Manson should still be in prison. > > When they’re alive again, we’ll consider letting him out. Some things cannot be undone. But what is the purpose of punishing a person forever? If human life is so precious that such a punishment is warranted then what of the life of the offender? Must that life be wasted even if the person eventually comes to sincerely regret their actions and are no longer a threat to others? Now certainly the Manson killings were particularly disturbing and there is no evidence of reform but as a general principle I see no reason to simply write people off. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/118 "2012-04-10T06:20:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe that’s what ralph meant. He was figuring it was time for a Manson Family reunion tour like all those other sixties nostalgia acts. Reunion tour nothin’, I, for one, vote for a reality show called “Murder with Manson” (or perhaps “Choppin’ with Charlie”), where 12 lucky members of society get to apprentice under Manson to compete in several categories including: number of followers, body count, and total estimated length of prison sentence in order to become the number one crazed serial killer in America. It would be a hoot and a half, that show. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/119 "2012-04-10T06:39:33Z")
Well yes, what is the value of human life when there is not only a full “hoot” to be had but half of another as well? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/120 "2012-04-10T13:54:59Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Some things cannot be undone. But what is the purpose of punishing a person forever? If human life is so precious that such a punishment is warranted then what of the life of the offender? Must that life be wasted even if the person eventually comes to sincerely regret their actions and are no longer a threat to others? Now certainly the Manson killings were particularly disturbing and there is no evidence of reform but as a general principle I see no reason to simply write people off. Because as you pointed out, “some things cannot be undone”. You murder somebody and all the repentance in the world won’t bring them back to life. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920/121 "2012-04-10T15:05:52Z")
Manson should have been executed. The fooraw over the death penalty has kept him alive at taxpayer expense for far too long. He should be taken out and shot. Alternatively, I’d love to see him get wasted by another prisoner like Jeffrey Dahmer. In either of those cases, I would consider him no longer a threat to society. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-charles-manson-be-released/617920.md?page=7)