Sirhan Sirhan's parole recommendation has spurred debate over whether people who have committed horrific crimes should be allowed to rejoin society.
Carol Germain lives on a quiet, tree-lined street in Pasadena a few houses down from the brother of Robert F. Kennedy’s murderer.
Sirhan’s testimony during a virtual hearing — in which he said he didn’t remember shooting the senator but expressed remorse “if I did in fact do that” — has been insufficient for many members of the Kennedy family. Advocates of rehabilitation point to the small fraction of people who have committed crimes after being released from life sentences. A 2020 report by California’s prison system states that only 2.3% of the 688 such inmates freed in fiscal year 2014-15 were convicted of a new crime — the majority of them misdemeanors.
The group worked with Jen Abreu, a facilitator for the Alternatives to Violence Project, who said Sirhan spent hours every day working with members of the group on concepts such as empathy and remorse. “The faction that’s saying it’s unfair to release him should be arguing with California sentencing laws,” she said. “It’s not an argument with the parole board.”
In a letter submitted to the parole board, a Cleveland resident described how in his youth he had knocked on doors to get people to vote for Kennedy. The senator, he said, “was a person who I loved and respected and in whom I had deep confidence that he would put a quick end to that unjust and immoral war in Vietnam.”
She wondered whether Sirhan had not already been shown compassion when his death sentence was changed to life in prison.— deserves a chance for rehabilitation and, after having served enough time in prison, even parole,” she said.
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