Miscellaneous News.

It would seem clear given the circumstances surrounding the illness of one-time Manson follower and killer Susan Atkins that she will be paroled and spend her last days with her family.

Doctors have determined she has less than six months to live. Atkins reportedly has brain cancer and has had to have a leg amputated. She has been in the hospital since March.

Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Atkins, said she deserved the death penalty in 1971. But the former prosecutor said he believed now that Atkins has sincerely renounced Manson and that her 37 years in prison, along with her illness, changed things.

"She has paid substantially, though not completely, for her horrendous crimes. Paying completely would mean imposing the death penalty," Bugliosi said. "But given that she has six months to live, and the loss of her leg, I don't have an objection to her being released."

Debra Tate feels differently, and while I understand her feelings, this doesn't make her look good:

"I don't want to seem like a heartless creature, but in all my years, I never considered this could happen," said Debra Tate, the actress' sister and only surviving relative. "This is a serial killer, and what kind of mercy did she show her victims? When you torture someone, you have no compassion. How do you ask others to give it to you? It is her duty, in order to pay for her crimes, to die in prison."

My God, Debra, let the hatred go. She knows, as well as any sane person knows, that if it hadn't been for the prominence of the victims and the sensationalism surrounding the case, Atkins would have been released many years ago. After all, she wasn't the only one responsible for the killings.

Besides, this isn't about Susan; this is about her family's wish to take of care of her in her last days. They were just as much victims as Tate and her family.

Atkins is 59 years old.

I came across this interesting blog post of a few months' ago. I will link it. I don't have any inside knowledge of the matter.
_____

Robert Parry analyzes yesterday's landmark decision by the USSC of the habeus corpus rights of Guantanamo Bay prisoners. The 5-4 case dealt a major blow to the Bush administration.

The usual suspects in the Boumediene et al. v. Bush case dissented. If you care to read the decision, it is 134 pages long.
_____