Video: Ex-radical Sara Jane Olson takes on new cause
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Since Sara Jane Olson was released from a California prison four years ago, she's lived a relatively private life in her St. Paul neighborhood.
Olson served seven years in prison for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s -- a radical group best known for kidnapping Patty Hearst. Now she's moving back into public life by petitioning the Obama administration to reduce disparities in prison sentences for crack and powder cocaine.
Olson and her friend and next-door neighbor, Mary McLeod, filed the White House petition last week, asking the president to exercise executive clemency for prisoners serving time under now-discarded sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine.
In 2010, Congress cut those sentences to align more closely with those for powder cocaine, but that only applied to new sentences going forward. The women's petition says that left more than 5,000 prisoners still serving time longer than the new rules would require.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Olson and McLeod, as many critics have done, said the differences in crack and powder cocaine sentences stem from stereotypes of crack as a drug for poor black people while powder cocaine is for rich white people.
Trisha Volpe, who reports for MPR News and KARE 11, talked to Olson and McLeod about why they wanted to take on this issue.
Olson, who was once known as Kathleen Soliah, lived as a fugitive from the mid-'70s until her arrest in 1999. Before her arrest, she had lived a quiet life in St. Paul. She was known among Twin Cities' liberal activists and was a sometime actress in local theater.
She was guarded as she spoke about her life on the run.
Olson also talked about living with a criminal record.
Since her release from prison, Olson said she has become very involved in prison issues, and volunteers for Women Prison Book Project and other groups. She is also studying public policy and sociology.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Dear reader,
Political debates with family or friends can get heated. But what if there was a way to handle them better?
You can learn how to have civil political conversations with our new e-book!
Download our free e-book, Talking Sense: Have Hard Political Conversations, Better, and learn how to talk without the tension.
