When I heard this morning that Sara Jane Olson had been released on parole after serving six years in a California prison, my first thoughts were of her teen-age daughter, Leila, sobbing at her mother's sentencing hearing.
That sad image of young Leila struck home.
Leila and my daughter, Shelby, were on the same soccer team the summer after Olson was arrested for her involvement with the radical leftist Symbionese Liberation Army in California back in the 1970s. The SLA is most known for the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. She had changed her name from Kathleen Soliah to Sara Jane Olson and been on the run for more than 20 years. Her "double life" ended abruptly in 1999 after an episode of "America's Most Wanted" produced a tip to the FBI. Olson was arrested getting out of her minivan near her home in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, where she lived with her three daughters and her husband, a local doctor. She was subsequently convicted and sent to prison for trying to bomb police cars and taking part in a deadly bank robbery in California.
After Shelby and Leila joined the same soccer team, I would see Olson and her husband at the games, week after week. We often sat just a few feet away from each other, cheering on our daughters' team. Out of consideration for both of our girls, I decided to put my reporter "hat" on hold. That summer, I never asked Olson about the charges against her and her alleged double life as a fugitive and a wife and mother. I also decided to remove myself from covering developments on her case that summer. I had covered her initial arrest, but that was the end of my involvement with the story.
When the soccer season ended, Olson hosted a party for the girls and parents at her home. Part of me was curious to see where St. Paul's most famous fugitive had lived a secret life for so many years. But I honored my daughter's request not to go to the party to avoid the potential awkwardness of having her mom, a crime reporter, in Olson's home.
I haven't seen Olson or her daughter since the soccer games. My last image of Leila was her emotional appearance on television at her mother's sentencing hearing. I can't imagine what the past six years have been like for her and her older sisters, who went on with their lives in Minnesota while their mom was behind bars in California. With Olson's release this week, I hope Leila can carve out some kind of normalcy with her controversial mom, who is 61 years old, living in Los Angeles - at least until she can get permission to move back to Minnesota.
The Los Angeles police union issued a statement criticizing Olson's early release.
More on the story can be found on WCCO.com, as well as The Los Angeles Times, here and here.
I wish the best for Leila and her family, but I can't minimize Olson's responsibility for the crimes to which she finally admitted. Olson's early release from prison is certain to stir up many conflicting feelings. Some people will argue she should have served a full 12-year term, while others will feel she has served her debt to society. (Early on-line polls at both Twin Cities newspapers are running against the early release.) Please share your thoughts.
