Oops! Soliah goes back to the joint
posted at 7:40 pm on March 22, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Kathleen Soliah will go back to prison after California authorities realized they miscalculated her time off for good behavior. Police arrested Soliah as she was about to board a flight to Minnesota, and will send her back to the prison from which they incorrectly released her on Monday. The former SLA terrorist and murderer had planned to return to Minnesota to visit her family:
State corrections officials re-arrested Sara Jane Olson on Saturday – five days after she was released – and announced that they intend to keep her in prison for another year.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said that officials miscalculated Olson’s sentence and gave her a year’s more time off her term than she deserved. …
Hidalgo said that Olson, the former Symbionese Liberation Army member who was convicted of killing Myrna Opsahl inside the lobby of a Carmichael bank in 1975 and of trying to bomb police cars in Los Angeles, was detained Friday night at Los Angeles International Airport as she was preparing to fly to Minnesota, where her family lives.
It’s hard to know how to feel about this. Soliah deserves a hell of a lot more time behind bars than the six she’s served, and she should have to serve every day of her too-short twelve year sentence. At the same time, it’s hard not to sympathize with Soliah’s children, who must be crushed at this unexpected turn of events.
Essentially, California still doesn’t have its act together. Prosecutors gave her too light of a sentence, and a state pardons and parole board had to extend it to the twelve years she got in the end. Now the prison can’t do math or apparently have someone double-check their work, and so let someone out a full year too early. It sounds like the same geniuses who calculate state budgets and wound up with an $18-billion miscalculation last year moonlight for the parole boards. (via Power Line)
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Those Californis Correction Officials crack me up. What a bunch of jokesters. I’ll bet she got a big laugh out of that.
oakpack on March 22, 2008 at 7:47 PM
I don’t sympathize with them. I leave that to the people who love them.
JiangxiDad on March 22, 2008 at 7:47 PM
would’ve paid to see the look on her face!
Duane Ingalls Glasscock on March 22, 2008 at 7:47 PM
(cont)…..I know I did.
oakpack on March 22, 2008 at 7:49 PM
haha
trailortrash on March 22, 2008 at 7:50 PM
You got that right, in your best Nelson Muntz voice too.
trubble on March 22, 2008 at 7:52 PM
Apologize for the cheap shot, but the eyes are Cindy Sheehan… deja vu all over again.
petefrt on March 22, 2008 at 7:56 PM
That’s for sure. On the one hand she should be spending the rest of her life in jail, on the other, having waited for the day of release to come and to walk out only to be dragged back in, wow. I wouldn’t be surprised if some fancy
lairlawyer argues that that is cruel treatment.Zorro on March 22, 2008 at 7:57 PM
how long til the lefties blow a gasket?
Defector01 on March 22, 2008 at 7:58 PM
I am laughing too. I am sure she will sue though.
HawaiiLwyr on March 22, 2008 at 7:58 PM
Is that even Legal?
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Cruel and unusual treatment is what I would be pushing for.
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 8:01 PM
The California schools are turning out some math wizards, they are.I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone on the parole board using the Jethro Bodine Gazinta method .
bbz123 on March 22, 2008 at 8:05 PM
Sounds like she was free for five days?
They only re-arrested her, since she wanted to leave the state?
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 8:06 PM
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 8:06 PM
Oldnuke on March 22, 2008 at 8:08 PM
You’re free to go. PSYCHE!!!
robblefarian on March 22, 2008 at 8:09 PM
I just checked, nothing registered on my sympathy meter over this.
Hog Wild on March 22, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Sounds like she was free for five days?
They only re-arrested her, since she wanted to leave the state?
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 8:06 PM
violation of parole?
in any case why….are….we….duh!! slow news day Ed?
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 8:12 PM
That five day party with the sisters might now look like a stategic error.
JAW on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
Back to the pokie terrorist…
Claypigeon on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
This HAS to be Bush’s fault…
Del Dolemonte on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
Sorry, no sympathy here for the bureaucratic snafu. It might be frustrating for her family, but it beats a bullet in the head while standing in the lobby of a bank. Oh, and by the way, her murder victim had four children. Let’s save our sympathy for them. What’s more, poor sad Sarah reportedly kicked a pregnant bank teller in the stomach during that same robbery, causing a miscarriage. Let’s save our sympathy for that child. For God’s sake, people, get your heads out of your asses. This woman deserves nothing but our unflinching disgust. She’s an unrepentant terrorist and a cold-blooded killer. Denying her the green bean casserole at her family’s Easter dinner is the least a civilized society can do.
Rational Thought on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
Buusssshhhhhhhh!!!
dmann on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
Pretty sad she is going to walk out of there anyway, very soon, and thats for trying to blowup cops.. when we still have two borderpatrol agents in jail for shooting at a gun-toten durg-running SOB.
Legions on March 22, 2008 at 8:17 PM
Rational Thought on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
You’re right
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Just because the dartboard is still on the back of the maintenance closet door doesn’t mean they should ignore the hi-tech, state earmarked database/spreadsheet software that cost millions of bucks but came without a manual.
Dusty on March 22, 2008 at 8:25 PM
I see a grim humor in this:
“Sara Jane, you are free to go.
Not.”
I suppose you can make a case that it’s cruel to kick Sara Jane loose and then yank her back for another year in the slammer, but then Myrna Opsahl has never been released from her fate for even a heartbeat.
Tantor on March 22, 2008 at 8:25 PM
thank you. Enjoy your holiday.
JiangxiDad on March 22, 2008 at 8:26 PM
It’s hard to know how to feel about this.
I disagree.
Did anyone ask Myrna Opsahl’s four children what it would be like, knowing mommy wasn’t coming home this year, or next, or ever?
How much dyoou think they would have given to see their mom one more time?
jdub on March 22, 2008 at 8:27 PM
That’s what I’m thinking too. She was released, so what was she arrested for? That seems like a violation of double-jeopardy or some such.
That having been said, Bwahahaha!
Jeff_McAwesome on March 22, 2008 at 8:29 PM
What would make it even better is if they charged her with escaping.
TroubledMonkey on March 22, 2008 at 8:31 PM
Amen, brother.
Kevin71 on March 22, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Let’s do it all over again next year!!!
Kini on March 22, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Denying her the green bean casserole at her family’s Easter dinner is the least a civilized society can do.
Again, I disagree. I would suggest that civilized society, once she was convicted, would have started at oxygen.
jdub on March 22, 2008 at 8:39 PM
Karma, I hope it feels like all 12 years to her.
BL@KBIRD on March 22, 2008 at 8:46 PM
Again, I disagree. I would suggest that civilized society, once she was convicted, would have started at oxygen.
jdub on March 22, 2008 at 8:39 PM
ahhhh…. what does that mean?
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 8:47 PM
Oh.. you are sooo baaaad. I bet your spouse calls you a handful. Good one.
Hog Wild on March 22, 2008 at 8:47 PM
Ya know…….I’m flippen between a few threads here….
I must be in the twi…. Rod, is that you?
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 8:51 PM
Her children? The woman is 62 years old. Her children must be grown.
BeachBaby on March 22, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Consequences.
sheesh on March 22, 2008 at 8:59 PM
just had a thought….one of few..
where is Patty H. these days?
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 9:01 PM
gone
jerrytbg on March 22, 2008 at 9:03 PM
This is a HUGE screwup for Corrections, yes. And I do feel sorry for her family, at least her kids who knew nothing of who she really is.
But when I think of the police who could have been killed and the woman in Carmichael who was, I feel much less sorry for Soliah/Olson.
Bob's Kid on March 22, 2008 at 9:06 PM
Her crime is outrageous, but this kind of treatment, is NOT correction or rehabilitation.
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 9:09 PM
How the f***ing hell do you think Opsahl’s children feel at this “turn of events”? For crying out loud, Ed.
Lee on March 22, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Now what little Correction and rehabilitation, that she has gotten, they have thrown it all away by screwing it all up.
And now for a whole year this woman is going to be PO’ed and angry.. Way to go California!
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 9:21 PM
I think they feelt terrible and have for many long years now. Heartache, sadly, is always in limitless supply. There’s plenty to go around.
Bob's Kid on March 22, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Oops!
Pam on March 22, 2008 at 9:26 PM
I have no sympathy for her “children.” One, they are adults and they had the time and money to fly out to California and visit her once a month for the past seven years and can afford expensive collect calls. Two, they, like their mother, make excuses for her behavior. Three, they, like their mother, had to know there was a mistake in the calculations.
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Captain,
Save the sympathy for the families of her victims.
The Opinionator on March 22, 2008 at 9:31 PM
Oh, please! She was never repentant and will never be repentant. Therefore, there is no change and no rehabilitation and there is nothing DOC can do about it. And since she was rearrested, she will serve the remaining time she is required to serve. I think it’s hilarious that they arrested her again.
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 9:34 PM
The more I hear about her family, the less sympathy I have for them..
No Emily, it isn’t normal to murder innocent people. Myrna Opsahls family would not consider it anything near normal.
Pam on March 22, 2008 at 9:35 PM
Again, oh please! They can only sentence her under the laws that were in effect at the time she committed her crimes. They can not deny her good conduct credits because at the time she committed her crimes there were no limits in earning days for early release. Sentencing in California is complicated and made complicated by the fact that this case was so old and different laws applied at the time.
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 9:38 PM
Make that: made more complicated by the fact the case was so old …
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 9:39 PM
As is moral equivalence, apparently. Sure, they already felt unspeakably devastated when their mother’s murder happened. But when Olson was finally captured, they at least might have had hope that justice would be served. Instead, the state of California made — and continues to make — a mockery of their mother’s killer’s “punishment”.
Ah, but it’s Olson’s children we should feel sorry for. Give me a break, people. Give me a damn break.
Lee on March 22, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Double jeopardy has nothing to do with this. She didn’t go on trial again for the same crime.
Sadly, prisons/county jails make this same mistake more often than we are aware of. They have every right to re-arrest the person and have them serve the remainder of their sentence.
Think of it like this..You owe the IRS $20,000 and you are making weekly payments against the debt…Out of the blue, you receive a letter from the IRS saying your account is paid in full..You know you didn’t make payments totaling anything near $20,000, but what the heck, they said you are paid up..nope..they can legally get you for the debt..In this case, she still has a debt that is owed to CA, and there isn’t anything she can do about it..
Pam on March 22, 2008 at 9:46 PM
Chakra, et al,
Do you really have sympathy for a terrorist and killer? Are you sure you are in the right place?
The Opinionator on March 22, 2008 at 9:49 PM
Maybe somebody was hopeing that she would break the law
again,two more stikes would make it strike three in
California!
And,why is this women getting out!
canopfor on March 22, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Don’t cry for a poor liberal that broke the law, murdered and ruined more lives than her own. She not as lucky to have a family that had enough money to buy the legal system and get off practically Scott free. Patty Hurst can tell you what that was like.
Otherwize, happy easter hotties, rejoice in the resurrection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ALOHA
Kini on March 22, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Not so much sympathy for her, i’m more outraged at the incompetent people in corrections for letting her out in the first place.
When people are released from prison we want to believe that they have been “rehabilitated”, how the hell is this screw up going to do ANY good, towards “rehabilitation?
(If nothing, this could be an excuse for her do so something in the future, and no it would not be “justified” but she is obviously “sick”, to me its throwing fuel towards sparks, the “fire” may have been “put out” though “rehabilitation” and “correction”, but “sparks” remain.)
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:09 PM
“When people are released from prison we want to believe that they have been “rehabilitated”…”
Actually, I want to believe they have been PUNISHED.
Rational Thought on March 22, 2008 at 10:14 PM
I want to believe, for hope to believe that they will not do it again.
Now, I have some doubts.
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:20 PM
or* hope to believe
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:20 PM
I just realized something, boy do I miss Bryan.
redrock on March 22, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Wow… How’s the weather on your planet? Rehabilitation has not been a priority in the mis-named “Corrections” system for a long, long time. Instead, everything is being done to coddle prisoners, including.
Forget about nonexistent ‘rehabilitation’ and go for straight punishment. You know, the “I’d better not do that again because the punishment really sucks” instead of “Yeah, yeah, back to prison where they’re now required to serve four-star meals, provide TV and exercise rooms, and any penalty for bad behavior is ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’”
She should have been executed in a ‘cruel and unusual’ fashion.
rmgraha on March 22, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Crap. Lost the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080322/ap_on_re_us/food_or_punishment;_ylt=AvYn4Obp.Kpkfqiuu_2SAaWs0NUE
rmgraha on March 22, 2008 at 10:26 PM
First, it’s a bit bizarre that you are more outraged at the doc for a mistake they immediately corrected and harmed no one, than at the offender herself.
Second, who wants to believe people released from prison are rehabilitated? The same people who believe in the tooth fairy? I means it’s crazy to think any but a small few are rehabilitated while in prison. Recidivism is extremely high. People with personality orders rarely change.
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 10:26 PM
I don’t mean to sound mean, or hateful, but I could really care less how her children feel. Their mother committed a horrible crime. Why are we so concerned about the criminal’s and their families feelings? You can bet your bottom dollar they believe she should not have gotten a prison sentence in the first place. You can bet her children feel their mother is the “victim” in all this.
AteMyFoot on March 22, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Lets just be sure to irritate and “piss off” all the violent felons before we release them upon the world, after they have been so called “rehabilitated”.
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:33 PM
It should be mandatory, before we release every murderer and rapist from prison, he should get kicked in the “jimmy” and spit in his face right before he’s let out the gate.
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:37 PM
>:D
Bwwhahaha!
Chakra Hammer on March 22, 2008 at 10:38 PM
She should have called “No Takebacks!”
Mormon Doc on March 22, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Wow, you really are more worried about the feelings of the guilty than that of the innocent victims. Anyway, we don’t have to piss them off, they are born pissed off and remained pissed off. It’s also called being a sociopath and there is no known cure. The only person who is claiming she could be rehabilitated is you. Everyone else is a realist.
Blake on March 22, 2008 at 10:56 PM
You think Sara’s got a bitch, these same wunderkids deregualted the electricity market so that it would be cheaper! You know how that went. And now they want to be in charge of our health care!
The worse you can hear is not, I’m from the government, I’m hear to help. It’s “I’m from Sacremento, I’m here to help”.
GarandFan on March 22, 2008 at 11:14 PM
I agree. Will there be any accountability for this screw-up for the people who did this? Makes me wonder how often it happens. If was a farce when Paris Hilton was released, then put back in lock-up. Releasing Soliah too soon goes waaay beyond that.
How about a voluntary citizen review board to double-check the math? I’ll volunteer some time to make sure people like her aren’t released too soon.
taznar on March 22, 2008 at 11:18 PM
Guard: “Ok Soliah, today’s the day. You’re free. Really. You’re free. Step through this door.”
*Soliah smiles and steps through the door, only to find it to be another cell*
Guard: “Haha, she falls for it every day. See you tomorrow Soliah!”
p40tiger on March 22, 2008 at 11:24 PM
This is nothing. The lowlife P.O.S. who murdered my wife should have been sent up for a 2 year stretch on a parole violation, but instead was let out after a weekend and a $100 fine. It wasn’t until a month after he had murdered 3 other women that they issued the arrest warrant for that parole violation. I guess they put some enhancements in place since then. That’s probably how they caught the error only 5 days after she had been let out. A few more days and she might have hooked up with William Ayers.
TheCulturalist on March 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
great news. when i heard she was being released I was upset. It’s only one mor year but i’ll take it.
eaglephin on March 23, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Agreed. I don’t know whether this sentence was determined by California statutes or a judge, but it certainly was not determined by a prosecutor!
bigbeas on March 23, 2008 at 12:12 AM
So, why is it that prison time even begins before the convict repents? Seems to me that sentences would make more sense if they were “six years of repentance” rather than “six years”.
The convict could face the court, and say “I’m sorry that such-and-such happened”, and the sentence could begin. But every cellblock “I’m glad I did the bitch” caught on a wire could reset the clock to the beginning.
I can’t see anything but a social good in keeping the unrepentant off the streets.
cthulhu on March 23, 2008 at 12:16 AM
I remember when this happened when I was little…it was bizarre.
No sympathy for whack jobs.
Domino on March 23, 2008 at 12:27 AM
Yeah, Ed, it’s a real tough call. On the one hand, you gotta hand it to the Corrections guys; this must have been torture for Soliah. I mean, she’s at the airport waiting for her plane!
Heh. I hope they pull this stunt once or twice a week for the next six years, sometimes turning her around at the gate, sometimes letting her get halfway home, etc. Make it fun; keep it fresh!
On the other hand, she’s probably safer in there.
As for your sympathies for this terrorist pos and her urban guerillas in training, GFY.
Jaibones on March 23, 2008 at 12:29 AM
Jaibones on March 23, 2008 at 12:32 AM
You have my deepest sympathies.
aengus on March 23, 2008 at 12:43 AM
I don’t think Ed was showing sympathies to the terrorist:
but rather for her children. As far as I know (and granted, I know little of this case), her children are not linked to any terrorist groups. Is it wrong to feel sympathy for people who want to see their mother free, even if their mother is a terrorist who should never be set free? Since when do we, as Americans, hold children accountable for the sins of their parents?
I don’t really care one way or another about the children, but that just says that Ed, in this case, is a better man than me. Besides, I think Ed’s overall point was that the system in California is broken:
And, for what it is worth, I miss Bryan too, but I think Ed is doing a fine job.
p40tiger on March 23, 2008 at 12:56 AM
Bryan was great. Ed is not as good a writer but he always picks interesting topics so his posts are well worth reading.
aengus on March 23, 2008 at 1:01 AM
Thanks. The scumbag is on deathrow in two states. Problem is, her kids will be grandparents before they pull the switch here in CA.
TheCulturalist on March 23, 2008 at 1:16 AM
LOL, Ed Only started CQ one of the Most popular Blogs on the planet.
Who is Bryan again?
Chakra Hammer on March 23, 2008 at 1:17 AM
Its not a competition. I especially liked Bryan Preston’s posts on HA. I don’t think Ed Morrissey’s posts are as well-written but I like the way, as I said, he picks such interesting topics. His posts are fascinating and well-worth reading.
I’m just giving my honest opinion. My all-time favourite blogs like this one tend to be read by about six people so your appeals to celebrity or success don’t hold much weight with me.
aengus on March 23, 2008 at 1:37 AM
Not really an appeal to “celebrity”, how about recognizing success?
Chakra Hammer on March 23, 2008 at 1:42 AM
You are eeeeeeeeeeviillllllllll!
sanantonian on March 23, 2008 at 1:47 AM
We cannot rehabilitate criminals. They have got to rehabilitate themselves.
Johan Klaus on March 23, 2008 at 1:48 AM
Okay, I don’t care about success. Your reply?
aengus on March 23, 2008 at 1:51 AM
It’s easy if you try, Ed.
This is, however, another grand example of governmental incompotence and furthers my desire to never let the government get their fat fingers into the inner workings of, for example, our health care system.
joewm315 on March 23, 2008 at 2:13 AM
Del Dolemonte on March 22, 2008 at 8:13 PM
LOL.
Dave R. on March 23, 2008 at 2:31 AM
Frankly, I don’t give a crap about her kids. Any discomfort her kids may feel is her fault and her fault alone, because she’s a murderous scumbag who put herself and her kids in this situation by her own dispicable actions to begin with.
SuperCool on March 23, 2008 at 2:33 AM
So, what then…
You favor mediocrity?
Whats your favorite football team?
Don’t tell me you are also a Cubs fan… >:D
Chakra Hammer on March 23, 2008 at 3:32 AM
I would hope our forefathers would have the same feeling i do on this. I have no “sympathy” for “the criminal”, and I I feel the act of killing someone, or raping a child is worth a death sentence. that being said, if you don’t like the sentence, change it, change the law, whatever you have to do to “make it right”. BUT!, once your decision is made, live with it. If a judge lets a murderer, or child molester out prematurely, I say, go after the judge! it wasn’t this womans fault for this incident, it was the State of California. Sure, take her back, even be “a man” about it, and apologize (but nothing more), THEN….go after the asshole that caused this, and make the punishment sting, so some other asshole doesn’t make the same stupid mistake. These stupid mistakes make us look foolish and we just dont need that (especially these days). They are suppose to be authority figures, how do you think authority looks after some moron pulls a stunt like this? you can say you dont care what criminals think about authority, but i assure you, it makes things even worse than they are. For God’s sakes…what are we running!? TURKISH PRISONS! am i living in Thunderdome!? Throw the bitch back in jail! and let the person who can’t add sit in her cell for 30 days with her!
HunnyWaggin on March 23, 2008 at 4:25 AM
Say no more
Viper1 on March 23, 2008 at 6:48 AM
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