# Should Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme be freed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 6, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502 "2009-08-06T03:27:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/1 "2009-08-06T03:27:03Z")
[The story](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8262139&page=1) > [@](#): > > Fromme is scheduled for release Aug. 16, just a few days after the 40th anniversary of the murder of actress Sharon Tate and nine others during a bloody weekend of slaughter that was ordered by Manson. But because the 16th falls on a weekend, Fromme could be out as soon as Friday, Aug. 14, Billingslley said. For those unfamiliar with Miss Fromme, she is a former Charles Manson follower, serving time for attempting to assassinate then-President Ford. She had her sentence extended following a break out attempt in 1987, but, as you can see, is due for release. Is this right or wrong? Good idea or bad idea? Can she be trusted to maintain her behaviour, or is she going to be a danger to society again? I know that legally she has done her sentence, and so I say, release her. If our system is truly about justice, then she has served her time and should be freed. Can she be trusted, tho? I have no idea, but I hope that she can, and I won’t mind if people watch her closely for a time to see that she behaves like a member of society should, and that we have no further trouble from her. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/2 "2009-08-06T03:55:56Z")
As a sidenote, Fromme is a super scary character in Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Assassins”. Wonder if she’ll use some of her new freedom for a night at the theatre that will freak everyone the hell out. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgL6988XoNk) Watch and cry as she sings of her undying love for Charles Manson in a touching duet with would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/3 "2009-08-06T04:28:34Z")
In REAL life, yeah. There is a point where we need to put aside the notoriety of the crime and compare it with similar, though less notorious, crimes. Were Ford just a congressman she didn’t kill, she’d’ve been out decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/4 "2009-08-06T05:33:41Z")
Its obviously up to the parole board. I doubt the ones who were there on the murder nights will ever be released. The crimes were too shocking (at the time) and with no mitigating circumstances. People still remember.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/5 "2009-08-06T11:05:41Z")
I’m pretty much a hard-ass in these sort of things, but since she wasn’t executed, as she should have been, I have to say- yes, I’m afraid so. I didn’t realize that Sara Jane Moore, the other failed assassin, was also a Manson chick or that she had been released earlier this year. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/6 "2009-08-06T11:16:03Z")
A friar in favor of the death penalty? Anyway, sure, let her out. At her age and being away from Manson’s spell, I see no threat from her that warrants spending the money to keep her in the clink. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/7 "2009-08-06T11:33:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > A friar in favor of the death penalty? Do people REALLY think I’m a Catholic ordained-monastic? And yeah, I am- I believe that JC did not rescind it & that Paul acknowledged it as a God-ordained power of civil government. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/8 "2009-08-06T11:39:12Z")
If she’d actually taken part in the Tate-LaBianca murders I’d say let her rot in prison. But she didn’t kill anybody so I have nothing against her release. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/9 "2009-08-06T11:41:50Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Do people REALLY think I’m a Catholic ordained-monastic? > > And yeah, I am- I believe that JC did not rescind it & that Paul acknowledged it as a God-ordained power of civil government. Actually, I thought you might be a priest and that Friar would be a little more informal title than Father. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/10 "2009-08-06T11:47:27Z")
I had no idea she was up for release. My opinion is that if you try to kill the PotUS you should never again see the outside of a prison. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/11 "2009-08-06T14:09:33Z")
I’m not convinced that she actually attempted to kill President Ford, since there was no bullet in the firing chamber of [her pistol](http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/2661085785/). According to [Wikipedia,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeaky_Fromme) > [@](#): > > The pistol’s magazine was loaded with four rounds, but none were in the firing chamber. She was immediately restrained by Secret Service agents, and while she was being further restrained and handcuffed, managed to say a few sentences to the on-scene cameras, emphasizing that the gun did not “go off”.[8] Fromme subsequently told The Sacramento Bee that she had deliberately ejected the cartridge in her weapon’s chamber before leaving home that morning, and investigators later found a .45 ACP cartridge in her bathroom.[9] Given that she didn’t make a real attempt to assassinate the president, I think 40 years is enough. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/12 "2009-08-06T14:19:09Z")
40 years to point an unloaded weapon at someone? Overkill. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/13 "2009-08-06T15:02:15Z")
Time to let her and all the rest of us move on. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/14 "2009-08-06T15:17:15Z")
I think she should take a page from Michael Vick’s agreement with HSUS, and rehabilitate her reputation by appearing in public service TV commercials in partnership with the Ford Foundation. She could urge young people not to become deranged, staring would-be assassins. I don’t think we need such TV ads, but it would be funny to have them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/15 "2009-08-06T15:19:56Z")
I hope Squeaky’s supporters have written to the parole board offering to take her in as a guest in their homes during her transition back to society. It would undoubtedly be an uplifting experience. “Uh, Squeaky (I mean Lynette)? I think it’s sweet of you to help prepare dinner, but do you really need that big a cleaver to chop the celery? Squeaky?!” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/16 "2009-08-06T15:21:42Z")
Damn, odd woman. She ought to be the subject of all sorts of research. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/17 "2009-08-06T15:48:42Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I’m pretty much a hard-ass in these sort of things, but since she wasn’t executed, as she should have been, I have to say- yes, I’m afraid so. I didn’t realize that Sara Jane Moore, the other failed assassin, was also a Manson chick or that she had been released earlier this year. Death Penalty for attempted murder? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/18 "2009-08-06T16:06:32Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Death Penalty for attempted murder? Of a President/Head of State? Hell, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/19 "2009-08-06T16:22:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > 40 years to point an unloaded weapon at someone? Overkill. It was loaded. There were bullets in the gun. The firing chamber did not have a bullet. I am not sure weather this means she did not really intend to shoot Ford or that she was not competent with guns. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502/20 "2009-08-06T16:48:00Z")
Only if we can guarantee Ford’s safety. He’ll probably need to go underground. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lynette-squeaky-fromme-be-freed/505502.md?page=2)