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Former Manson Follower Atkins Claims She Is A Political PrisonerThe Sacramento Bee May 30, 2003 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - During 33 years in prison former Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins has been transformed from a convicted murderer to a political prisoner, she claims in a lawsuit seeking release. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside County, where she is incarcerated, contends that Atkins is a victim of Gov. Gray Davis' controversial policy opposing parole for convicted murderers. Since he took office, Davis has freed only two, both women who suffered from battered women's syndrome when they killed. He has vetoed more than 150 other releases recommended by parole boards. "Over the course of her incarceration, Ms. Atkins has been transformed into a political prisoner," said the civil rights lawsuit filed by attorney Eric P. Lampel of Irvine. He said psychiatrists call her a model prisoner who is not a threat to society. A recent psychiatric report included in the suit says that Atkins "is a different person than at the time of the commitment offense." Atkins, 55, who confessed at the sensational 1970-71 Manson trial that she fatally stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, has since recanted that confession, saying she was present but did not kill Tate. She was convicted along with Manson and two other members of his cult, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, in the slayings of Tate and six others in two notorious nights of murder in 1969. At her most recent parole hearing in 2000, Atkins told the parole board that she was remorseful, rehabilitated and determined to make amends for what she did. "I don't have to just make amends to the victims and families," she said. "I have to make amends to society. I sinned against God and everything this country stands for." Relatives of those killed have adamantly opposed her release and say she and the other "Manson family" killers should remain behind bars for the rest of their lives. Paul Tate, father of the slain actress, submitted a letter to Atkins' parole board recalling the anguish of the trial. "Even while testifying about my daughter's last breath, she laughed," he said "My family was ripped apart. If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?" She was denied parole for a 10th time by a board which urged her in the future to seek psychiatric counseling and to continue participation in self-help groups The lawsuit was filed in April and the California attorney general's office filed an opposition last week on procedural grounds. They said the suit is premature because Atkins has not exhausted other administrative remedies. Atkins' suit said her imprisonment amounts to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Deputy Attorney General Barbara C. Spiegel replied that "the seriousness of deprivations contemplated by Eighth Amendment law would be trivialized if applied to (Atkins') complaints." The suit seeks to advance Atkins' next parole hearing, now scheduled for 2004, to this year and asks for $1 million in punitive damages. Lampel has said all damages would be donated to victims of crimes. "She's not out seeking a monetary windfall from this horrible incident," Lampel said. Van Houten also went to court last year seeking to override repeated refusals to consider her release. A judge criticized the board for denying her bids for freedom without telling her what was expected of her. But her next hearing resulted in a denial on ground she had not shown sufficient remorse. U.S. District Judge Robert Timlin set a June 30 hearing on Atkins' suit but said he would rule on submitted papers and not her oral arguments. |
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