On Sept. 6, for the second year in a row, parole commissioners recommended parole for 68-year-old Leslie Van Houten, who participated in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in the summer of 1969.

Van Houten, who was 19 at the time, stabbed Rosemary more than a dozen times after fellow Charles Manson-follower Charles “Tex” Watson killed Leno and stabbed Rosemary.

This Oct. 8, 2014, photo shows serial killer Charles Manson. (Courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP, File)

Cult leader Charles Manson stares at the floor Oct. 6, 1970, as he is led to the Los Angeles courtroom from which he had been ousted the day before after lunging at Judge Charles H. Older with a sharpened pencil clutched in his hand. Manson and three female followers involved in the case will be listening to the proceedings in an adjoining room because of their behavior. (AP file photo/Wally Fong)

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Convicted mass murderer Charles Manson is shown in 1971. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson is escorted to court Dec. 3, 1969, in Independence, Calif. (AP file photo/Harold Filan)

Convicted killer Charles Manson at his parole hearing at San Quentin, Calif., in 1986. (AP file photo/Eric Risberg)



Charles Manson is shown at his 1986 parole hearing in California. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson wears a new outfit of jacket, shirt, kerchief, slacks and shoes as he arrives Dec. 29, 1970, in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice to listen to defense arguments in his trial for murder in the deaths of Sharon Tate and six others. Because of past outbursts, Manson and three female defendants are listening to proceedings via an amplification system in a room adjoining the courtroom. (AP file photo/Wally Fong)

A clean-shaven Charles Manson, with a swastika scratched on his forehead, walks to court, March 12, 1971, in Los Angeles. At the times this photo was taken, Manson and co-defendants — Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel — had been convicted of murder in the deaths of actress Sharon Tate and six others. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson at his 1986 parole hearing in California. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson during his trial. (AP file photo)



Charles Manson is escorted in 1969 to his arraignment in Los Angeles on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the deaths of Sharon Tate and six others. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson is removed from court Dec. 21, 1970 after an outburst. The outburst began after Leslie Van Houten said she wanted to file her new lawyer. Before being ejected with Manson and their two co-defendants, Van Houten slapped a bailiff and told the judge, “I’d strike you if I could.” (AP file photo/George Brich)

Charles Manson in court Nov. 10, 1970, after receiving a shave and haircut. (AP file photo)

Charles Manson, squinting in the glare of a film cameraman’s floodlight, is escorted to court Aug. 20, 1970, for a hearing on his claim he is being mistreated by deputies in the Los Angeles County Jail. After the hearing his trial on murder charges resulting from the slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six others was scheduled to resume. (AP file photo/George Brich)

Asked “Are you insane, Charlie?” on March 19, 1970, Charles Manson replied, “It all depends on your point of view.” The exchange came as Manson left court after winning permission to hire a new attorney, replacing one who had sought to have him examined by psychiatrists. (AP file photo/George Brich)



A photo provided by the California Department of Corrections shows 77-year-old serial killer Charles Manson in 2012. (AP Photos/California Department of Corrections)

Charles Manson, head of the cultic “Manson Family,” is escorted by deputy sheriffs on his way to court, in Los Angeles, Calif., on August 20, 1970. He is charged with murder-conspiracy in the Tate-LaBianca slayings. (AP Photo)

Dr. Mike Karch takes a photo of an abandoned miner’s truck that has Helter Skelter written on the back of it behind the Barker Ranch house, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 in the Panamint Mountains west of Death Valley National Park, Calif. Charles Manson and his followers retreated to the Barker Ranch after a killing spree during the summer of 1969. The high desert wasteland outside of town hides the ranch where a paranoid Charles Manson and his followers holed up after their orgy of murder nearly four decades ago. Now, as then, few venture into this alkaline wilderness _ gold-diggers, outlaws, loners content to live and let live. But a determined group of outsiders recently made the trek. They were in search of more evidence of death. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

Debra Tate, sister of murder victim Sharon Tate waits for scientists and investigators to begin working behind the abandoned Barker Ranch house, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 in the Panamint Mountains west of Death Valley National Park, Calif. Charles Manson and his followers retreated to the Barker Ranch after a killing spree during the summer of 1969. The high desert wasteland outside of town hides the ranch where a paranoid Charles Manson and his followers holed up after their orgy of murder nearly four decades ago. Now, as then, few venture into this alkaline wilderness _ gold-diggers, outlaws, loners content to live and let live. But a determined group of outsiders recently made the trek. They were in search of more evidence of death. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

** FILE ** A Life magazine with Charles Manson on the cover is left on a the kitchen table in the abandoned Barker Ranch house, in this Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 file photo in the Panamint Mountains west of Death Valley National Park, Calif. Manson and his followers retreated to the Barker Ranch after a killing spree during the summer of 1969. Further forensic tests of the soil at the remote ranch where Charles Manson once lived were ordered Friday, March 28, 2008 before a decision is made on whether to dig for more possible victims of the convicted killer. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)



Charles M. Manson, leader of a hippie cult accused of multiple murders, leaves a Los Angeles courtroom, Dec. 22, 1969 after telling a judge “lies have been told” about him. His followers say the 35-year-old ex-convict has hypnotic powers. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Charles Manson is escorted to court for formal sentencing in Los Angeles, Ca., on April 19, 1971. He is convicted with three women followers of murder-conspiracy in the slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six others. (AP Photo)

Convicted murderer Charles Manson is shown during an interview with television talk show host Tom Snyder in a medical facility in Vacaville, Ca. on June 10, 1981. (AP Photo)

Convicted murderer Charles Manson stares at the parole board in San Quentin, Calif., on Feb. 4, 1986. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Charles Manson is returned to jail after being formally sentenced to death, April 19, 1971. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)



Charles M. Manson, 35-year-old bearded leader of a communal clan he calls “the family” is shown as he arrived in Los Angeles, Dec. 10, 1969, to be jailed on murder-conspiracy charges in the deaths of actress Sharon Tate and six others. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. Three women indicted with him by a Los Angeles County grand jury Monday will appear for arraignment. (AP Photo/Harold P. Matosian)

Charles Manson is pictured en route to the courtroom after being told the jury had decided on his punishment for the Sharon Tate murders in Los Angeles, Ca., on April 19, 1971. Manson began making derogatory remarks as soon as he entered the courtroom and was taken to another room before the jury sentenced him and three women co-defendents to death in the gas chamber. (AP Photo)

Alleged murderer Charles Manson arrives in a courtroom in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 5, 1971. (AP Photo)

Charles Manson is pictured en route to a Los Angeles courtroom on Dec. 17, 1970. He is being arraigned on charges of murder in the disappearance of Donald J. “Shorty” Shea, who vanished about the time of the Sharon Tate murders, for which Manson is on trial. (AP Photo)

Charles Manson is escorted by officers while enroute to court in Independence, Calif., in this Dec. 3, 1970 photo. Manson and three women codefendants were convicted and sentenced to death after the 10-month trial that involved the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in the hills near Hollywood, Calif. Their sentences were later commuted to life when the death penalty was briefly outlawed. (AP Photo)



Charles Manson walks into the courtroom in Santa Monica, Ca. on Oct. 13, 1970. Manson and Susan Atkins, seated, a member of his family of followers, are to plead on charges of murdering a Malibu musician, Gary Hinman. When his name was called, Manson stood, folded his arms, and turned his back on the judge. Atkins did the same. The court then entered pleas of innocent. Both are on trial in Los Angeles for killings that included actress Sharon Tate. (AP Photo)

Unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain a mistrial, Charles Manson heads for court in Los Angeles on Aug. 6, 1970 to listen to further cross-examination of the state’s star witness, Linda Kasabian, in his trial for murder in the slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six others. (AP Photo)

Charles M. Manson, charged in the killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others, walks to courtroom in Los Angeles, Feb. 10, 1970, where his trial date was set for March 30. Manson is wearing sandals, gold velvet trousers, a white Edwardian shirt with billowing sleeves and a multi-colored vest. The same trial date was set for Linda Kasabian and Leslie Van Houten, two female co-defendants. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Cult leader Charles Manson looks back and smiles as his attorney, public defender Fred Schaefer, talks to him in Independence, Calif., on Dec. 4, 1969. Manson and his followers are charged with eight murders. (AP Photo)

The body of actress Sharon Tate is taken from her rented house on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, Ca., on Aug. 9, 1969. Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four other persons were found murdered by American cult-leader Charles Manson and his followers. Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, was born in 1943. (AP Photo)



Given the notoriety of Van Houten’s crime, the decision of the commissioners has understandably drawn backlash from those who believe no member of the Manson family should ever be released, including members of the LaBianca family.

The decision is now going through a 120-day review period before going to Gov. Brown for final determination. Brown overturned last year’s recommendation based on his belief that “she remains an unacceptable risk to society if released.”

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Donald Trump versus the military-industrial complex While Brown might just end up repeating himself after the latest recommendation, Van Houten’s case raises important questions about the value of rehabilitation and the purpose of the criminal justice system.

As both parole boards concluded, Van Houten has exhibited a record of “growth and maturity” since committing her crimes, exemplified by her clear articulation of remorse and responsibility for her crimes and her consistent participation in rehabilitative programming.

Far from the drug-addled, impulsive teenager of half a century ago, Van Houten’s time in prison has by virtually any measure been exemplary. She’s received a bachelor’s and master’s degree, served as a tutor for Chaffey College, been a leader and facilitator of numerous self-help groups and hasn’t had a single serious rule violation.

With the passage of decades of time in which she has worked to better herself, Van Houten has also consistently been found to be at low-risk of future violence by over a dozen clinicians who have assessed her going back to the 1980s.

Indeed, there seems to be no credible argument that Van Houten hasn’t changed dramatically for the better since 1969. As deputy commissioner Nga Lam commented of Van Houten’s record of bettering herself at last year’s parole hearing, “[If] you are not rehabilitated, I don’t know who is.”

Further, it should be noted that Van Houten is eligible for parole as both a youth offender and an elderly prisoner.

In 2015, Gov. Brown signed Senate Bill 261, which requires that parole hearings give greater weight to factors like the “subsequent growth and increased maturity” when considering parole of someone who committed crimes before the age of 23.

The policy is predicated on the idea that while young offenders should be held accountable for their crimes, young people are capable of positive change, and thus young offenders should be given the chance to better themselves while incarcerated. Van Houten has evidently taken that initiative and proven those assumptions to be true, to the satisfaction of two consecutive parole boards.

This year, Brown made permanent the Elderly Parole Program, through which offenders 60 or older who have served 25 or more years are made eligible for parole consideration.

At the core is the idea that incarcerating elderly inmates often serves little public safety benefit, as older prisoners are far less likely to reoffend than younger people.

As one of just under 2,300 age 59 or older who have served 24 years or more as of February, Van Houten more than meets the criteria for consideration. Having already been deemed a low-risk for decades, at 68 she’s even less likely to reoffend than ever.

Of course, even granting Van Houten’s rehabilitation and low-risk of reoffending, it’s impossible to argue that the LaBianca family isn’t entitled to feel that Van Houten should remain imprisoned for the rest of her life.

But Van Houten wasn’t sentenced to life without parole, and as such should be considered for parole in light of all the relevant factors — including the victim’s thoughts and whether Van Houten meets the many requirements for parole, which two boards have now agreed she has.

I’m inclined to think that after decades of bettering herself as well as one could behind bars, paroling Van Houten would probably do more to motivate other prisoners to rehabilitate than actually endanger society.

Sal Rodriguez is an editorial writer and columnist for the Southern California News Group. He may be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com