Manson Family member Bruce Davis had his parole denied by California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday. Davis had been recommended for parole for the first time in his 40 year stay in the California prison system in October. After a mandatory review process, the decision was handed over to Brown on February 3.
The Governor’s office then had 30 days to make a decision as to whether or not Davis would be granted his release. It appears that the prospect of Davis being the first member of the Manson cult to actually be released from prison solely based on good behavior was too much to bear.
Reuters reports that Brown wrote a six page opinion reversing the decision of the state’s parole board. In the document, Brown pointed to the heinousness of the crimes the group committed as being the driving factor in the decision:
“As our Supreme Court has acknowledged, in rare circumstances, a murder is so heinous that it provides evidence of current dangerousness by itself. This is such a case.”
The Los Angeles times says that Brown also pointed to the fact that Davis was still not taking full responsibility for his own actions as a reason to keep him in prison:
“Until Davis can acknowledge and explain why he actively championed the Family’s interests, and shed more light on the nature of his involvement, I am not prepared to release him,”
The governor did heap praise on the Manson Family member for the work he had done to improve himself since he went to prison. Over the last 40 years, Davis has earned degrees in both religion and philosophy. The former Charles Manson acolyte also apparently teaches bible study and leads group counseling sessions.
Davis was 26 when he was convicted and imprisoned in 1972 for the murder of two men, Donald “Shorty” Shea and Gary Hinman.
Do you think this Manson Family member will ever be a free man?
