Below is my response to Sara Olson - formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah -a bomber and murderer of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
I responded because any attack on Marsy's Law, from whatever source or any reason, must be answered.
The good news - Marsy's Law is causing a lot of grief among the violent prisoner population.
Olson wrote her diatribe on a prisoner's blog. I do not recommend responding on the blog, you will just get a lot of hate mail, besides, prisoners don't care how victims feel or what we think.Don't waste your time arguing with them.
I do recommend that you write arebuttal and send it to all victims’ friends, associates and groups on your contact lists. We need to keep reminding each other that evil forces are out to overturn Marsy's Law. Fight back!
Response to Sara Olson
Just so you know where we are coming from, our daughter was viciously murdered in 1986 on a college campus. The murderer then raped and killed seven more young women. He now sits comfortably, wrapped in all the Illinois legal rights given murderers, escaping California justice for five of his eight murders. California la w enforcement refuses to extradite.
Let’s start first with Dr. Henry Nicholas. His precious, beautiful sister’s was gunned down by a jealous boyfriend in 1983. Marsy was finishing her studies at UCSB to become a teacher of handicapped children. From the beginning, Dr. Nicholas and his parents suffered from injustice: the murderer had all the rights; the parents had few, almost none. This began a long struggle for Dr. Nicholas,his mother and father to balance the scale of justice, to give victims the right to be heard and represented in the criminal process. Dr. Nicholas and his parents are true victim champions.
Dr. Nicholas will always be a homicide victim; thank God he chose to become a warrior for victim’s rights. Dr. Nicholas has contributed generously to victim organizations and victim ballot measures in addition to his contributions to youth programs, medical and educational charities and institutions. He is definitely not shy on his insistence for victim justice.
Dr. Nicholas has provided deep financial resources that have helped victims secure justice and fairness from a system that for too long has been slanted to criminal rights. Dr. Nicholas has stepped in to help victims when our legislators, and many times law enforcement, turn their backs to us. The number one job of government is PUBLIC SAFETY, something our legislators conveniently forget. Well, Dr. Nicholas and Todd Spitzer never forget; the two of them made a good team, they got things done.
We worked for passage of every victim endorsed proposition on California ballots the 1980s. We worked especially hard for passage of Prop 9 – Marsy’s Law. Contrary to your opinion, this law is a true breakthrough for victim’s rights, providing constitutionally guaranteed victim representation in all aspects of the criminal justice process, including parole. Stop kidding yourself, victims and all voters knew exactly what Prop 9 – Marsy’s Law is and what they were voting for.
For every violent criminal, there is a huge army of people who have been affected by their crimes: the victim, family, friends, work associates, church members, even strangers, to name a few. We come from every demographic and we have long memories of crimes committed against us and the pain that does not go away. Each time a victim endorsed crime proposition passes, the victim movement just gets stronger. Let’s just say, “we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore” from violent criminals, their defense lawyers, criminal advocates and occasional law enforcement officials who just want to make a “deal,” ignore victims, or cover-up their mistakes by non-prosecution.
Victims believe that prisoners guilty of violent crime should never get out of prison. These people are murders, rapists, molesters, 3-strike repeaters and others who commit violent, vicious acts such as your attempted police car bombings and the senseless murder of innocent Myrna Opsahl during a bank robbery. If you think murder is some brave act ofcourage, why did you hide out like a rat for so many years? Why did you not step up to proudly proclaim your revolutionarybravado, orare your really just a common thug? You have a callous disregard for the pain and suffering you cause. Sick!
A life time in prison is justified for all the misery violent criminals have caused. Life is tough in prison? To bad. You and your fellow prisoners may get out someday; the victim will still be sentenced to a life of pain and loneliness.
California voters agreed that violent prisoners should serve the maximum punishment allowable. Society does not want violent criminals released to commit more crime, more misery. Society said: stop the merry-go-round of parole hearings that wreak such pain, worry, financial loss and fear in victims. Sorry if that makesthe lifersfeel bad.
The criminal’s only hope is wrong-headed rulings by liberal judges who have no interest in victims and our rights. Victims will support all law enforcement officers, state officers and legislators who protect victim’s rights and fight these judges. We will not idly stand by to see our rights and equal justice – won at the ballot – be negated or destroyed.
Murder survivors – Laguna Beach