The whole thing about Manson, in my opinion, is that when you consider the way the Tate/LaBianca murders went down, and how it was proven the man wasn't responsible for killing anyone himself, the fact he's been in prison for the past 40+ years is a bit confusing to me. When people say he "brainwashed" those kids I kind of scratch my head. How exactly does one brainwash someone? Bugliosi definitely played a huge role in getting Charlie sentenced to life. And Charlie didn't help his own cause any by leaping over desks and threatening to cut off the Judge's head at the trial, either. Is Charles Manson a psychopath? I'm not sure. Is he a bad person? I'd say yes. Does he hold some kind of rare power to tap into people's psyche and play on it? Possibly.
What happened to Sharon Tate and the rest of the victims was horrible and the people that committed the crimes are where they deserve to be. No one should be released. Not even Van Houten, who seems to always be the one most likely to be paroled in many peoples eyes. Charlie did get a bit of a raw deal in my opinion. Though I'm not justifying ANYTHING his followers did by saying that. Manson may have very well killed Shorty Shea and countless others out at Spawn Ranch or Barker Ranch. But he wasn't being tried for those potential crimes.