She was originally on death row but her sentence got commuted to life in prison (California getting rid of the death penalty). Sh needs to stay wher she is and be grateful she has life.
Her attorney went missing in the latter part of the first trial; the famous trial with Charlie and the other girls as co-defendants. She appealed that conviction on the grounds of inadequate representation and her conviction and sentence were overturned. She was tried again resulting in a hung jury and a mistrial was declared. She was out on bond between the second and third trails. She was tried a third time and convicted of felony murder. She was sentenced to seven years to life with the possibility of parole after serving the minimum.
I don't really have an opinion on her suitability for parole. I do know that California routinely paroles worse people than Van Houten but that doesn't mean she should go free. On the other hand, there is a legal standard by which an inmate can obtain parole and she seems to meet that standard and has been recommended for parole before. If we are to have a just system, everyone should be treated the same. That said, I'm all for executing every murderer with in months, if not weeks of their convictions.
The only Manson Family member to have been paroled is Steve Grogan and that happened sometime in the 1980s. He was involved in the murder of Shorty Shea. He told the authorities where the body was buried and was granted parole.