The California parole process -- The Manson family cases and the birth of the "extreme punishment trifecta" -- The triumph of Helter Skelter : how the Manson family came to represent the sui generis ultimate evil -- Revisiting the past : from facts to emotion in understanding the crime of commitment -- Reinventing the present : crafting and interpreting the inmate's prison experience -- Reimagining the future : the past casts its shadow on the inmate's postrelease plans -- In Bardo.
Summary:
"In 1969, the world was shocked by several murders committed by Charles Manson and his followers. Although the defendants were sentenced to death in 1971, their sentences were commuted to life with parole in 1972; since 1978, they have been regularly attending parole hearings. So far, all of the living defendants remain behind bars. Relying on nearly fifty years' worth of parole hearing transcripts, as well as interviews and archival materials, Yesterday's Monsters invites readers into the opaque world of the California parole process-a realm of almost unfettered administrative discretion, prison programming inadequacies, and political pressures-and offers a fresh longitudinal perspective on extreme punishment"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.