Want in one hand and spit in the other, and see which one gets full first

Susan Atkins, aka Sadie Mae Glutz, wants to spend the last half-year of her life outside prison walls.

The problem is that in 1969, Sadie Mae looked into the pleading eyes of an 8 1/2 months pregnant woman, mocked her and then cut her throat, killing her and the baby. She was a member of the Manson "family" and still is paying for her horrendous crime.

When California's death penalty was struck down in 1972, Sadie Mae got a get out of hell free card. She has been in prison since 1971 and currently is the longest-serving female inmate in California, according to CNN's story about her potential release.

But God had a purpose in her life. Sadie Mae found Jesus, and she has spent the rest of her life behind bars working with disadvantaged people. She married. She became, once again, Susan Atkins, and she left Sadie Mae behind. Now Susan is dying, and she wants to die breathing free air.

Which begs the question: How long is long enough?

I joke sometimes that stupid things I did in college shouldn't count against me in real life. Of course I never killed anyone, but there were times when I didn't take very good care of myself in one way or another. Suppose I had gotten into a situation over my head and I still was paying for it 40 years later?

Then again, what kind of worth can you place on someone's life?

Ben is dead because a woman made a mistake. The brief time she was on the wrong side of the road resulted in our being deprived of brother, son, uncle, nephew, grandson and friend. She is facing indictment for vehicular homicide. Imagining any of her responsibility for my brother's death as intentional is far beyond my comprehension, so I can't put myself in the place of Sharon Tate's family.

Geddy and I disagree on the subject of the Tate murders. He believes Charles Manson is "uf da debil" and should have been put to death and the women in the case set free years ago. Charles Manson may be manipulative and evil, but it's never been proved he personally killed anyone, so I've maintained they all should stay in jail.

How do you reconcile murderous Sadie Mae Glutz of 1969 with the dying Susan Atkins of 2008? Does her behind-bars relationship with Jesus Christ and her work with homeless and at-risk children demand some sort of compensation? Did the time she spent with victims of violent crime cancel out Sharon Tate's murder?

There's little question that a reformed, saved, married, dying amputee would, for the last six months of her life, be any threat to society. Even Sharon Tate's sister Debra is concerned about being thought "a heartless creature" for being opposed to an early release.

If the purpose of imprisonment is rehabilitation, it appears to have worked in this case. If the purpose is to deter, ditto. If the purpose is to punish...well, then I guess it's right that the woman responsible for Ben's death is facing criminal charges.