Why Leslie Needs Parole

¶ … John Waters' view that infamous Manson family member, Leslie Van Houten, must be released on parole.

LESLIE Reasons for Parole Waters cites in his work that, several decades after the murder in which Leslie Van Houten was involved, a parole official, following an analysis of no less than eleven separate psychiatric statements (all of which concluded that Van Houten could be paroled and is not a threat to society any longer), listened to Van Houten miserably attempting to explain that her thought process was addled that time and that she is ashamed of who she was at age 19.

She claimed that the best means to prove her remorse was by being the best possible individual, today. The parole official remarked unforgivingly, yet kindly (Waters, 2011), that she had has committed an unpardonable act, so escaping punishment was very difficult, near to impossible -- an assertion none can deny. Waters asserts, in one way, that Van Houten did serve the time required for her to understand the gravity of what she had done, and is obviously, remorseful for it now.

Waters cites one more reason: He thinks it is virtually impossible for Leslie to get out of the hole by attempting to explain the effects of LSD (a drug) to individuals (i.e., parole board members) who are entirely unfamiliar with what it does to a person.

He believes they will not be able to understand her plea that, during the murders, she constantly struggled with ensuring that she does not "come down," as reminisced by her in "Straight Up?" -- A yet to be published book on Leslie -- by Connie Turner. Leslie states that she interacted with her cohorts in the absurd space induced by drugs. She confessed she had no idea whether to "cut holes at the back of her shirt," or add pockets, for holding her wings.

How, then, must society deal with, or understand, a murderess who claims to be better after many decades of perpetrating a heinous crime? Here, Waters is considering the idea that, a lack of empathy may be responsible for Van Houten remaining in jail longer than required. He pleads and strives to prove that she is mentally sound again, and thus, should be paroled. Waters further relates his own history while trying to explain why Van Houten deserves to be paroled.

He asserts that his entire hearing was concluded in a matter of three minutes following the policeman's testimony that he witnessed the unfortunate person simply walking without looking into approaching traffic. Waters feels such an appalling experience will remain with him forever, but hardly qualifies him as a killer (Waters, 2011), and that he cannot even start to imagine how Van Houten feels now, knowing she was at fault.

All he was able to do was warn future pedestrians of what dangers they may face on the road using his films' dialogues. For instance, in the Johnny Depp-starrer Cry-Baby, school crossing supervisor, Patricia Hearst, instructs Johnny Depp to look right and left before walking. The most crucial reason behind Waters' support of Van Houten's parole is the fact that, when jail social workers attempted to reason with Van Houten, she started realizing that she had, in fact, been brainwashed by Manson.

Karlene Faith, in her obscure, but perceptive, work The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten, writes that Leslie confessed to going blank and suffering bouts of frustration when she was questioned. She compared her experience to a machine that is stuck and simply making noise. Her brain had become non-functional, and she was attempting to make sense out of things, breaking down rigid slogans that were forced into her.

When two more of her cohorts (or "Manson girls" as they were labeled), Catherine Shaw and Mary Brunner, were incarcerated and placed with Susan, Patricia, and Leslie, the latter was exasperated by hearing their talks of Manson, and confessed that she had changed and did not want to be a part of this, to Patricia (Waters, 2011). Leslie struggled for 3 years to grasp what she had done; further, 5-6 years in therapy helped her take responsibility for her part in the murder. How, then, can she be punished thus, if her.