Sarah Jane Olson of the Symbionese Liberation Army comes home to St. Paul

March 18, 12:00 PMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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Kathleen Solia and Sarah Olson

Sarah Jane Olson, aka Kathleen Solia, is coming home to my neighborhood after serving seven years in a California jail.

Kathleen Solia, aka Sarah Olson, tried to blow up police cars when she was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. They didn't work. They were duds but the fact of the matter is her intent must have been to either watch a big explosion or to actually kill someone, the cop, the kid walking by on the sidewalk, Innocernt people all. She participated in a bank robbery where a person was killed; she kicked a pregnant woman so hard and well placed that the woman miscarried.

In her younger days, she is now 62, she did some stupid, dangerous, awful, illegal, acts and there has been a large uproar about her coming from California to serve her time on parole back in St. Paul. You know what? These arrangements happen all the time.

It has been proved without a doubt that the chances to live a calm, respectable, law abiding, life when the ex-convict is close to family is exponentially higher than if you just open the door, say "Sayonara" and "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out"

Kathleen Soliah eventually reinvented herself in St. Paul, a stone's throw from South St. Paul, raised two daughters, married to a doctor, baked brownies, and kept quiet until her cover was blown on the "America's Most Wanted" television show.

Sarah Jane Olson has not had a pretty life, most of it her own undoing. Stupid things. Self seving things. She got a lot of support while absolutely denying any involvement in the bank robbery that claimed the life of a woman. Then, along with others, she pleaded guilty. She was not a pre-packaged teenager loaded with naiveté and ready to protest the war, the draft, civil rights, etc. She was twenty seven when this happened, after all. Fully an adult.

She had joined the self-styled urban guerilla outfit known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. They weren't fooling around. They had guns and explosives and really did do some major newsy events, the most celebrated was the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst, heiress to the Hearst Empire. It was quite a while ago.

However, the ideal purpose of parole, which the state parole board approves and oversees, and probation, which a judge imposes, is to successfully reintegrate and assist offenders to return to a community after paying the debt imposed by society for their crimes.

I think this 'tough talk' about Olson has been pretty silly. They know better than this --Tom Foster, retired long time probation officer

There are an estimated 1,591 convicts from other states allowed to live here in Minnesota today. One of them might be my neighbor but who knows? We've shipped out 2,518 of our own across the nation. They might be your neighbor, but who knows?  Our pious, small fry, Gov. Tim Pawlenty requested to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (a mismatch if ever there was one) to have her serve her parole in California. The Governator out there said no. It was an easy way for Gov. Small Fry to make the news. She is more dangerous than the 1,591, according to some. Others think that the parople officer on this case will have it as a piece of cake, maybe baked by the ever so dangerous, sixty two year old Sarah Jane Olson.

She might not be the neighbor you'd like to have but I'll bet she would be better than most of those 1,590 other ex-cons. She's served her time, paid her debt to society. The choice is whether to help her or hold the grudge forever. That goes for the others, as well.

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