OREGON, Sept. 25 – On an August night in 1969, Doris Tate’s daughter was murdered by members of California’s notorious Charles Manson clan.

Monday night, Tate paid a visit to the Oregon State Penitentiary to continue her efforts to rehabilitate criminals — but only some criminals.

Tate said she has learned to categorize prison inmates. In one group, she places the likes of Manson and his followers.

“I don’t understand these people,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, you lock them up and throw away the key or do whatever you have to do to keep them out of the revolving doors of the justice system.”

Her interest lies with another group of criminals: those who accept responsibility for their crimes, who want to reform and who will some day go free.

Her goal, she said, is to reach these violators early — before their behavior escalates to tragic proportions.

“If I can affect one out of 50, or two out of 50, and stop them from becoming a murderer, I’ll do anything,” she said.

Her daughter, actress Sharon Tate, and six other people were slain in the Los Angeles area in one of the nation’s most widely publicized murder cases.

Doris Tate has been active in lobbying for crime victims’ rights for about 10 years. She founded a group called Coalition on Victims’ Equal Rights, and she is involved with other groups, including Parents of Murdered Children.

She came to Salem as a guest of the 7th Step Foundation, a group that seeks to help criminals reform. In addition to Monday night’s visit to the penitentiary, she is scheduled to meet inmates at the Oregon Women’s Correctional Center today.

Like other such programs, 7th Step uses a series of steps similar to those developed for
Alcoholics Anonymous.

Offenders must accept the existence of some higher power, however they choose to define it, and must come to believe that the power can help them.

They also must acknowledge their past wrongs and make amends to the victims if possible.

Tate has assembled videotapes, to be shown to inmates, that feature crime victims describing the effects of crime on their lives.

Although Tate long has been involved with victims’ rights, the notion of working directly with prisoners is relatively new in her life.

She said it has helped her realize that at least some inmates want to change. Now she’s committed to prisoner rehabilitation and to the hope that it can prevent tragedies like the one that befell her daughter, who was eight months’ pregnant with Tate’s grandchild when she was slain.

“What happened to my daughter should not happen to any human being,” she said.

By DAN POSTREL