California probes early release of ex-SLA figure Sara Jane Olson

StarTribune ^ | 3/24/08 | Don Thompson/AP

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

California corrections authorities on Monday began investigating the premature release of former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson, who was imprisoned for a murder committed by the radical group and attempted bombings of police cars in the 1970s.

State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said the probe was being handled by the department's internal affairs division.

Olson, 61, was released March 17, a year early. She was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport Friday night and returned to prison on Saturday.

In 2001, Olson pleaded guilty to attempted bombings of Los Angeles police cars in the 1970s. Two years later she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 1975 shooting death of a customer during a bank robbery carried out by the SLA in Carmichael, near Sacramento.

Olson was not captured until 1999. She had changed her name from Kathleen Soliah and eluded authorities for 25 years, married a doctor and raised three children in St. Paul, Minn.

[Dante3]

Interesting.

[Drango]

Oh good grief. Why study it? The error was by civil servants. You can’t fire ‘em! You can only transfer them to Park & Rec or the
“I feel bad, ‘cause I don’t have a penis, womyn commission”.

[yoe]

“White youth must choose sides now. They must either fight on the side of the oppressed, or be on the side of the oppressor.” Bernardine Dohrn - Bill Ayers friends of Barack and Michelle Obama……Dohrn and Ayers never served a day for their crimes against America. Communism used the ‘oppressed’ to further their cause rather than help civil rights.

[DanielRedfoot]

...photographed in 16 second intervals... Of coarse Patrica Hearst was pardoned by Bill Clinton on his way out.

[HerrBlucher]

married a doctor and raised three children in St. Paul, Minn.

I don't know where I read this but it was a book or article about the details of the Carmichael robbery and the shooter, Kathleen Soliah, rationalized the death of the woman as no big deal because she was "married to a doctor." Back then I guess doctors were considered by radicals as just another big cog in the facist establishment. Interesting that she herself ended up marrying a doctor. Maybe she should have shot him and herself for the Cause.

[mamelukesabre]

I used to know a guy that once went on a blind date with patty hearst or one of her girlfriends...I forget which now. But anyway, he knew her when he was in college. I remember him saying that he said he knew immediately that she was not kidnapped, she was a willing participant if not a ring leader. For the life of me I can't remember this guys name...only that he ended up with a PhD in physics.

[piasa]

SLA ping.

Sara Jane Olson finds herself in a kind of time warp these days, defending her actions a quarter century ago when she had a different name, Kathleen Soliah, and the world was different, too. . .It was middle America’s worst nightmare. . .It was back in the early ’70s in the San Francisco Bay area when small bands of urban guerrillas engaged in terrorism. None was more notorious than the Symbionese Liberation Army, the SLA. . .And Kathleen Soliah would find herself caught up in the turmoil. At Berkeley, where she studied acting, Soliah says she developed a close friendship with Angela Atwood, and through her met others who would later form the SLA.---- ABCNEWS.com : PrimeTime: Who is Sara Jane Olson? Transcript

[Drango]

...only that he ended up with a PhD in physics

Yeah, like that's normal. (sorry, low blow, but I know a few physics majors)

[mamelukesabre]

Yeah, so do I. I think they’re good guys. ONe I know ended up a homeless person, but only one. The rest are good upstanding citizens, hard working family types. The homeless guy is a good guy too. He just has issues that are not entirely his fault. It can be very hard to get work when you have a PhD in physics. Think about it. Who would hire you if you needed a job really bad, any job? To make matters worse, he was a very large intimidating turk with a voice like james earl jones and a thick accent and more hair than you’d think a human being could possibly have. Oh, and he smoked a pipe probably 20 hours a day and reeked of tobacco. When I say pipe, I don’t mean pot. When he wasn’t smoking, the smell of tobacco was strong enough to make you choke. I think his metabolism got by on tobacco and coffee alone.

[Fedora]

Thanks for the ping!