CA - Sara Jane Olson/Kathleen Solia

[JBean]

More info:
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/07/13_helmsm_sarajanesentence/
2004:
Sara Jane Olson's 14-year prison sentence thrown out

July 13, 2004
Sara Jane Olson could be released from prison sooner than California corrections officials would like. The St. Paul woman was convicted in 2001 of crimes she committed in the 1970s as a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. A judge has thrown out Olson's 14-year prison sentence. If the judge's order stands, Olson could be free in as soon as two years.


Sacramento, Calif. — When Sara Jane Olson was sentenced in 2002 she faced a prison term of five years and four months.
She had pleaded guilty to two counts of planting pipebombs under Los Angeles police cars. She was later convicted of taking part in a bank robbery in Sacramento that led to the death of a California woman. Olson is serving a separate six-year term for her involvement in that case.
Soon after Olson arrived in her cell, California's Board of Prison Terms recalculated her bombing sentence, extending it to 14 years


THEN IN 2007
http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/2007/04/former-sla-sara-jane-olson-sentence.html
April 14, 2007 abc news

The former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive who hid
for years by posing as an ordinary housewife had a
year restored to the sentence she is serving for
trying to bomb police cars.

In 2001 Sara Jane Olson, formerly known as Kathleen
Soliah, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years
in prison for attempting to bomb police cars in 1975
with the SLA, the group best known for kidnapping
newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.

The state Board of Prison Terms had reduced Olson's
sentence by a year. But the state Attorney General's
Office appealed that decision and an appeals court
panel restored her full sentence Thursday. It ruled a
lower court had not followed proper procedure when it
allowed Olson to appeal her sentence

 

[JBean]

During my research I discovered her original judge was Larry Fidler. the same judge that presided over the Phil Spector trial.
>>On October 31, 2001, Soliah, now Sarah Jane Olson, accepted a plea bargain..snip
Immediately after entering the plea, however, Olson told reporters that she was innocent and that her plea bargain was a lie ..snip
Angered by Olson's announcement that she had lied in court, Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler ordered another hearing on November 6, at which he asked her several times if she was indeed guilty of the charges.<<
A good recap at this link

 

[Amraann]

Her kids are wonderful and not selfish brats. Imagine having your mother taken from you. Don't take your anger out on the kids.

Well IMO she should not have had children knowing she was wanted.

I disagree there was some vendetta against her. She cold heartedly killed people she belongs in prison.
How dare she expect to lead a normal life after taking the life of others?
If she was so upstanding she would have turned herself in years ago.

 

[Trino]

Well IMO she should not have had children knowing she was wanted.

I disagree there was some vendetta against her. She cold heartedly killed people she belongs in prison.
How dare she expect to lead a normal life after taking the life of others?
If she was so upstanding she would have turned herself in years ago.

The same should be said for Patty Hearst. However, Patty was rich and had the right connections. Gerald Ford pardoned her. Is this justice?

I lived through the Patty Hearst episodes. IMO she was not innocent, not cohersed. Others must have thought this way, too, since she received a jail sentence. IMO Hearst was as guilty as Olson.

 

[2sisters]

Blackwater, Abu Graib, dirty water to our troops, rape of a 15 year old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family: these are also terrorism but because they are under the guise of "war" and the American flag, they are just collateral damage. I don't condone what Soliah did but I have the ability to put it in the proper perspective.

That absolutley has nothing to do with this. This is about a woman who took part in a robbery, murder, attempted murders, etc. She lived a pretty sweet life on the outside for years so she should have no complaints. Her and her daughters seem to have a strange sense of entitlement.
Your political views may be better suited for the political forum. IMO you are using this thread to voice you disdain for things that are going on now in the ME and related issues, there are plenty of discussions on that elsewhere, if you can't find one start one over in the PF.No disrespect intended.

 

[2sisters]

They didn't "miscalculate" anything. The Los Angeles Police Protective League is very powerful and they put pressure on the DA to have her rearrested. She is no danger to anyone.

Her being a danger is not the issue, the need for justice is. I wish all of you Solia/SLA sympathizers had an just an ounce of the sympathy you have for her for the real victims.

 

[chiperoni]

The same should be said for Patty Hearst. However, Patty was rich and had the right connections. Gerald Ford pardoned her. Is this justice?

I lived through the Patty Hearst episodes. IMO she was not innocent, not cohersed. Others must have thought this way, too, since she received a jail sentence. IMO Hearst was as guilty as Olson.

Wait... don't you remember Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the SLA when she was attending UC Berkeley. They fired bullets into her apartment and dragged her away. She was kept in a dark closet and raped everyday for about two months. . She eventually "joined" the SLA after a relentless brainwashing and had contact with KS. There is no comparison between Patty Hearst and Kathleen Soliah. Patty Hearst spent time in jail as a consequence of being involved involved in a bank robbery where two people were wounded. She was tried and convicted. Her lawyer, F.Lee Bailey, did not perform well according to public consensus.There was public controversy that she should not be in jail because she was kidnapped originally. Patti Hearst was eventually pardoned by President Carter (not President Ford) and her record was expunged by President Clinton. There is no comparison between these two women.

 

[Pepper]

Is she still married to the doctor or did he dump her when she went to prison?

 

[chiperoni]

Is she still married to the doctor or did he dump her when she went to prison?

It looks like they still are together and he has been supportive. IMO he probably knew about her past and the children didn't. He had a good reason to remain silent because the children needed him and he is the sole support of the family.

 

[Amraann]

The same should be said for Patty Hearst. However, Patty was rich and had the right connections. Gerald Ford pardoned her. Is this justice?

I lived through the Patty Hearst episodes. IMO she was not innocent, not cohersed. Others must have thought this way, too, since she received a jail sentence. IMO Hearst was as guilty as Olson.

I totally agree with you! She was guilty as hell IMO. But on the same token she did not hide with a different identity for 20 years.

 

[chiperoni]

The facts are Patty Hearst was kidnapped and brainwashed. She did not seek out the SLA. They sought her out.. After staying with the SLA she did go overboard and could have escaped but instead she supported the SLA and wrote letters and made tapes stating so. She participated in a bank robbery and two people were wounded. She was guilty.She served two years in jail for this and then was pardoned by President Carter. She did not participate in murder or attempted bombing. Patty Hearst was lucky because no one got killed during her bank robbery while Kathleen Soliah participated in a bank robbery where an innocent woman was killed and later attempted to blow up a car full of policemen. Kathleen was lucky those explosives didn't go off because if they did she would be guilty of multiple murders and would serve life in prison. The difference between these two women is one was kidnapped into the SLA and the other made a conscious choice to become a member of this organization. One was guilty of bank robbery, murder, and attempted bombing of police officers car and the other was guilty of bank robbery and attempted murder. There still is a lot of controversy about PH's responsibility. IMO the fact that she was kidnapped, diminishes her guilt but not entirely. Please read this link to refresh your memories. By the way JBean, Tom's Girl. and 2Sisters tnx for the links and facts.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/02/04/MN79942.DTL

 

[reportertype]

IMO, whether she's a present danger to anyone at the present time is beside the point.

And what's with this she's lived a good life and stayed out of trouble rally cry from her supporters? It's not like she lived some stellar and saintly life. She merely did what most of us law abiding citizens manage to do everyday without the incentive to stay under the radar because we are a felon and face major prison time. The entire time was spent as a wanted felon in hiding. Her living a life to avoid prison has been confused with her living a regular law abiding life. One that she didn't deserve by the way, because she should have been in prison.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'll reserve my sympathy for someone who actually deserves it.

 

[2sisters]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'll reserve my sympathy for someone who actually deserves it.

Thank you! I will never figure out how someone could pity Solia and not the real victims. That is the most infuriating thing is when a victim is forgotten and peoplee are taken with the criminal. It is a slap in the face to the REAL victims.

 

[LinasK]

IMO, whether she's a present danger to anyone at the present time is beside the point.

And what's with this she's lived a good life and stayed out of trouble rally cry from her supporters? It's not like she lived some stellar and saintly life. She merely did what most of us law abiding citizens manage to do everyday without the incentive to stay under the radar because we are a felon and face major prison time. The entire time was spent as a wanted felon in hiding. Her living a life to avoid prison has been confused with her living a regular law abiding life. One that she didn't deserve by the way, because she should have been in prison.

:clap: :clap: :clap: Excellent post that says it all. This woman Soliah/Olson really has chutzpah, I'm glad she's been re-arrested. Jon Opsahl is the real victim. He grew up unnecessarily without a mother.

 

[shadowraiths]

The same should be said for Patty Hearst. However, Patty was rich and had the right connections. Gerald Ford pardoned her. Is this justice?

I lived through the Patty Hearst episodes. IMO she was not innocent, not cohersed. Others must have thought this way, too, since she received a jail sentence. IMO Hearst was as guilty as Olson.

It's coerced, not "cohersed." And besides the fact that Hearst's case is a far cry from that of Olson/Solia, Hearst's case is not about coercion anyway. Hearst was kidnapped, raped, and tortured. The result is what is referred to as Stockholm Syndrome. Although it was not named until 1973, <cynical remark>thanks to MK Ultra *cough* research</cynical remark>, the data does indicate that hostage victims will often become "loyal" to their abductors. In fact, the stages these victims progress through is not at all dissimilar to K&#252;bler-Ross' model of grief (i.e., denial, anger, bargaining, depression, & acceptance). And even the CIA spooks admit that no amount of training in the world can protect someone from this psychological *and* physiological process. In other words, by the time Hearst was kidnapped the data was already in. We, as a nation, had already witnessed it with Korean War POWs. And since Hearst's kidnapping, we, as a nation, have also witnessed this wrt two recent kidnappings. That of Elizabeth Smart and Shawn Hornbeck.

 

[shadowraiths]

I tend to agree about the father .... The article summed it up when it quoted him as saying "20 years in prison"
He is going to be damn careful about what he says.

Yup. And with that statement alone, there is no doubt in my mind that he knew she was a part of DeFreeze's SLA and their reign of terror. As for the characterizations describing the SLA as "just radical"? Well, if they equate home-grown terrorists to radical, I suppose... As for this woman? That she would actually say, "I'm screwed" in response to 9/11, imho, speaks volumes for what kind of woman she is. Hardly someone who was even remotely remorseful for her part in the murder of innocents. Imho, she should thank her lucky stars that she got such a light sentence.

 

[Amraann]

It's coerced, not "cohersed." And besides the fact that Hearst's case is a far cry from that of Olson/Solia, Hearst's case is not about coercion anyway. Hearst was kidnapped, raped, and tortured. The result is what is referred to as Stockholm Syndrome. Although it was not named until 1973, <cynical remark>thanks to MK Ultra *cough* research</cynical remark>, the data does indicate that hostage victims will often become "loyal" to their abductors. In fact, the stages these victims progress through is not at all dissimilar to Kübler-Ross' model of grief (i.e., denial, anger, bargaining, depression, & acceptance). And even the CIA spooks admit that no amount of training in the world can protect someone from this psychological *and* physiological process. In other words, by the time Hearst was kidnapped the data was already in. We, as a nation, had already witnessed it with Korean War POWs. And since Hearst's kidnapping, we, as a nation, have also witnessed this wrt two recent kidnappings. That of Elizabeth Smart and Shawn Hornbeck.

IN both cases they were younger children.
I have never believed that Patty was brainwashed ... she went along willingly and her dad bought her a good defense.

 

[chiperoni]

IN both cases they were younger children.
I have never believed that Patty was brainwashed ... she went along willingly and her dad bought her a good defense.

When Patty Hearst was kidnapped there was a hail of bullets. fired into her condo. There still are some bullet holes on the building. She was pulled out of her condo in her nightgown and restrained. Her boyfriend Steven Weed was beaten up. Pictures of him were in the paper. Unfortunately PH was not well represented by F Lee Bailey and the family was very disappointed in the case he presented. She participated in a bank robbery and many people felt she should been given a break by President Carter (not Ford) for the very obvious reason she was kidnapped in the first place. He later pardoned her.When she was kidnapped she had just graduated from a private girl's Catholic School in Monterey. Her big rebellion at the time was that she was living with her boyfriend. The perpertators of the crime have spread that rumor of Patty Hearst joined the SLH so that they would not be charged with kidnapping. It never happened. She didn't even know who they were at the time of the kidnapping.

 

[2sisters]

Well, Kathleen Solia is right where she belongs. I am really glad for the clerical error.

 

[2sisters]

Looks like more boohooing from The Soliah camp. Her rights were voilated. SO were all the people's rights in the bank that day. They had a right to safely do their business at the bank, Mrs. Opsahl had a right to a full life, her kids had a right to a mother, her husband had a right to a life with his wife.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8694156?nclick_check=1