Violence among the elderly is on the rise in many nursing homes Paranoid delusions can become more pronounced with ageing. If he is not under medical supervision he is more likely to act on his hateful ideation.
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The Manson-family members may have truly rehabilitated themselves over the years—unlike von Brunn, who seems to have become only more hateful. However, they could still serve as a malevolent influence on other less-enlightened souls. Atkins and the others declare themselves different people from the ones who committed those awful crimes four decades ago, but America is also a different country. In the 40 years since those murders shocked a nation not yet fascinated with serial killers, Manson admirers have exploded in number. There is a Charles Manson fan club (several, in fact), a thriving market in Manson-family memorabilia, and Manson himself receives tons of mail and visitation requests every year.
What kind of signal would it send, not only to the families of the victims, but also to those who consider the Manson family role models, if the government were to release them for the last 10 or 20 years of their lives simply because they were old? And who considers 60 old anymore? Indeed, the U.S. Parole Commission's guidelines say that early release of a prisoner should be denied if that release would "depreciate the seriousness of the crime or promote disrespect of the law." And in light of the bizarre hero-worship status that some famous murderers attain in the U.S., releasing them for any reason, including age, might promote the idea that there's a happy ending for these folks.
Should he be convicted, von Brunn will almost certainly die in prison. But if we have any chance of stopping these kinds of horrible acts in the future, we have to stop thinking of older people as incapable of serving their time. Yes, it seems harsh, but I hope that in the excited debate about elderly criminals in the wake of the heinous act that von Brunn is alleged to have committed, and later when the Manson family returns to the news, we can also remember that time does not depreciate these sorts of crimes. Indeed, in the eyes of some, it serves only to glamorize them.
© 2009
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