Sarah Jane Olson, a member of the radical US 1970s Symbionese Liberation Army famous for kidnapping the American heiress Patty Hearst, has been returned to jail, less than a week after being released on parole.
Who is she?
In 1975 Sarah Jane Olson was sent to prison for after seven years for charges ranging from second degree murder to possessing a destructive device with intent to murder in. Nice woman then?
On Monday, Sarah Jane Olson was released from a Californian woman’s prison, but officials found an "administrative error" and Olson will need to return to her cell for another year…..Oh dear, if you are going to make a cock up, make it a high profile one.
Olson, 61, changed her name from Kathleen Soliah, while she was a member of the militant Symbionese Liberation Army and went on the run for almost a quarter of a century, marrying Dr Gerald Peterson, and Emergency Room Doc. The couple lived for a while in Zimbabwe before moving back to America, St. Paul, Minnesota to be precise.
Olson changed from being a confrontational rebel who was involved in a plot to plant pipe bombs beneath police cars, to a respectable housewife or homemaker, as our American friends would call it.
She and Gerald had three daughters and lived in a posh part of town only being recognised in 1999 when she was featured on ‘Americas Most Wanted’ and was sent for t
rial in 2001.
Pleaded Guilty
Did The Prison Authorities Pick This Up Quickly Then Recall Her Back To Prison?
It appears not, Jon Opsahl, son of Myrna Opsahl, the woman killed in the bank rob
bery, called 
the Sacramento County district attorney's office and said he believed Olson had not served enough time.
Corrections department officials acknowledged that they began an intensive review of their internal calculations of the sentence after getting questions from the Sacramento County district attorney's office and a local television reporter, but they denied that they had bowed to pressure……..Of course not.
After Olson was taken back into custody, Los Angeles Police Protective League President Tim Sands issued a statement, saying, "We are relieved that Sara Jane Olson has been returned to prison for another year."
Kernan called the case "extremely complicated, given the amount of changes to the sentencing laws that have occurred over the last 30 years." Olson should have been sentenced to 14 years, not 12, for the two crimes, Kernan said. He said state officials had failed to account for the bank robbery.
The earliest possible release date for Olson now is March 17, 2009, he said. At that point, she will have served half of the 14-year term. So she serves half the sentence? Yes . Like most California inmates, Olson has earned credit against her sentence for working while in prison. Same as UK again. She has served on a ‘maintenance crew’ which had the joyous task of sweeping and cleaning the main yard of the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.
Who is she?
In 1975 Sarah Jane Olson was sent to prison for after seven years for charges ranging from second degree murder to possessing a destructive device with intent to murder in. Nice woman then?
On Monday, Sarah Jane Olson was released from a Californian woman’s prison, but officials found an "administrative error" and Olson will need to return to her cell for another year…..Oh dear, if you are going to make a cock up, make it a high profile one.
Olson, 61, changed her name from Kathleen Soliah, while she was a member of the militant Symbionese Liberation Army and went on the run for almost a quarter of a century, marrying Dr Gerald Peterson, and Emergency Room Doc. The couple lived for a while in Zimbabwe before moving back to America, St. Paul, Minnesota to be precise.
Olson changed from being a confrontational rebel who was involved in a plot to plant pipe bombs beneath police cars, to a respectable housewife or homemaker, as our American friends would call it.
She and Gerald had three daughters and lived in a posh part of town only being recognised in 1999 when she was featured on ‘Americas Most Wanted’ and was sent for t
rial in 2001.Pleaded Guilty
She pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a destructive device with the intent to murder and struck a deal in the bank case, pleading guilty to second-degree murder. For the murder conviction, she was given a one-year sentence. For the botched bombings, she was initially sentenced to five years and four months, but that was extended to 12 years after a state prison board designated her “a serious offender.” This is where the problem arose and nobody took any notice of it.
"The department is sensitive to the impact that such an error has had on all involved in this case and sincerely regrets the mistake," Scott Kernan, the agency's chief deputy secretary of adult operations, said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.
"The department has launched a full investigation."
OK, sounds like the same as in the UK, a balls up has occurred and we will look at this, it will happen again, has happened before but being in the public eye we have to be seen to be looking into this.
"The department is sensitive to the impact that such an error has had on all involved in this case and sincerely regrets the mistake," Scott Kernan, the agency's chief deputy secretary of adult operations, said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.
"The department has launched a full investigation."
OK, sounds like the same as in the UK, a balls up has occurred and we will look at this, it will happen again, has happened before but being in the public eye we have to be seen to be looking into this.
Did The Prison Authorities Pick This Up Quickly Then Recall Her Back To Prison?
It appears not, Jon Opsahl, son of Myrna Opsahl, the woman killed in the bank rob
bery, called 
the Sacramento County district attorney's office and said he believed Olson had not served enough time.Corrections department officials acknowledged that they began an intensive review of their internal calculations of the sentence after getting questions from the Sacramento County district attorney's office and a local television reporter, but they denied that they had bowed to pressure……..Of course not.
After Olson was taken back into custody, Los Angeles Police Protective League President Tim Sands issued a statement, saying, "We are relieved that Sara Jane Olson has been returned to prison for another year."
Kernan called the case "extremely complicated, given the amount of changes to the sentencing laws that have occurred over the last 30 years." Olson should have been sentenced to 14 years, not 12, for the two crimes, Kernan said. He said state officials had failed to account for the bank robbery.
The earliest possible release date for Olson now is March 17, 2009, he said. At that point, she will have served half of the 14-year term. So she serves half the sentence? Yes . Like most California inmates, Olson has earned credit against her sentence for working while in prison. Same as UK again. She has served on a ‘maintenance crew’ which had the joyous task of sweeping and cleaning the main yard of the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.
She was taken to a prison in Chino on Saturday but will be moved back to Chowchilla, Kernan said."The department is sensitive to the effects this has had. The department sincerely regrets the mistake," said Alberto Roldan, chief deputy general counsel for the Department of Corrections. Roldan claims the mistake was made in 2004 – However the MISTAKE happened - it happened. We are talking about a woman who was involved in, robberies and murders. She may have lived for over 20 years as a housewife but she still needed to pay for her crime and she still committed it. Who’s to say how many other mistakes there are walking about in America today who are much more dangerous than she is?
More on the SLA
The Symbionese Liberation Army was a paramilitary group of self-styled radicals that attracted international attention for crimes that included the murder of the superintendent of the Oakland schools and the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
The SLA's leaders took the name "Symbionese" from the word "symbiosis." It was meant to describe the group's concept of "living in deep and loving harmony."
The SLA had only 13 members, according to multiple reports. One was Kathleen Soliah, now Sara Jane Olson. She was among the five group members who robbed a Sacramento bank in 1975, killing Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four.
SLA member Emily Montague admitted to holding the shotgun that killed Opsahl but claimed it went off accidentally.
In a letter read in a Sacramento courtroom in February 2003, Olson admitted entering the bank and wrote of Opsahl: "If we had foreseen her killing, we would never have robbed the bank."
More on the SLA
The Symbionese Liberation Army was a paramilitary group of self-styled radicals that attracted international attention for crimes that included the murder of the superintendent of the Oakland schools and the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
The SLA's leaders took the name "Symbionese" from the word "symbiosis." It was meant to describe the group's concept of "living in deep and loving harmony."
The SLA had only 13 members, according to multiple reports. One was Kathleen Soliah, now Sara Jane Olson. She was among the five group members who robbed a Sacramento bank in 1975, killing Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four.
SLA member Emily Montague admitted to holding the shotgun that killed Opsahl but claimed it went off accidentally.
In a letter read in a Sacramento courtroom in February 2003, Olson admitted entering the bank and wrote of Opsahl: "If we had foreseen her killing, we would never have robbed the bank."
photo1 Sarah Jane Olson
photo2 Kathleen Soliah before name change to Sarah Jane Olson
photo3 Sarah with husband ER DR Gerald Peterson
photo4 John Opsahl and Myrna Opsahl
photo5 SLA wanted poster
photo6 Patty Hearst
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