Appeals court rules Manson follower Leslie Van Houten should be paroled

Leslie Van Houten in 2017.
(Image credit: Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File)

A California appeals court ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that Leslie Van Houten, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson who participated in two murders at his direction, is entitled to parole.

Since 2016, Van Houten, 73, has been recommended for parole five times, with the Board of Parole Hearings saying in 2020 she does not "pose an unreasonable risk to public safety." California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown (D), rejected parole for Van Houten on every occasion, and this is the first time a court has overruled the governor's rejection of parole for a Manson follower, the Los Angeles Times reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.