SACRAMENTO, CA - SACRAMENTO - California has not exactly been the prime target for terrorists but that process could be speeded up with help from a judge who is sending the wrong message on a case of domestic terrorism.

Kathleen Soliah was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a group fond of assassinating innocent civilians such as Marcus Foster, the first black school superintendent in Oakland. They also robbed banks and Soliah was on the scene in 1975 when the SLA hit a bank near Sacramento and gunned down Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year old mother of four depositing church collections. The SLA gunners wrote her off as a "bourgeois
pig.'' Soliah, who once worked under the alias of Kathleen Anger, also attempted to blow up two Los Angeles police officers with pipe bombs.

Soliah fled to Minnesota where she masqueraded as Sara Jane Olson. She was arrested in 1999 and in October, 2001, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison. The Board of Prison Terms changed that to 14 years. In January 2003, Olson was sentenced to six years for her role in the 1975 bank robbery.

But most recently, on July 13, 2004, Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Cecil, an appointee of Pete Wilson, tossed out the 14-year sentence. The judge claimed that the board did not provide an "independent evaluation.'' Olson, now in Chowchilla prison, will have another sentencing hearing within 60 days. And if the board does not uphold the longer sentence, she could eligible for release in about two years.

The state is responsible for the protection of life and property, and this sends the wrong message. It tells
terrorists that they may target multiple victims with a bomb, participate in violent crime, go into hiding for years, and then receive leniency in California's courts. And there can be no doubt that California is a prime target.

In 2000, Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian jihadist who obtained a Canadian passport in the name of Benni Antoine Noris, targeted LAX. He might have succeeded if not for a sharp-eyed customs official. Other targets include the movie industry, places such as Disneyland, and even the governor.

Ten years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in True Lies, in which the terrorists of "Crimson Jihad'' get hold of a nuclear weapon. Secret agent Harry Tasker, played by Schwarzenegger, dispatches the chief terrorist with missiles from a Harrier jet fighter. The film riled militant Islamic groups, here and abroad, along with their politically correct lobbyists. Since then, actual jihad has given us the bombing of U.S. embassies, the attack on the USS Cole, and 9/11.

The recent report on 9/11, which everyone should read, indicates that terrorists still seek to kill millions. It also
shows that our intelligence efforts have been a shambles, with agencies working against each other, instead of with each other. In that environment, the effort to bring terrorists to justice should be anything but lenient.

How the fight will play out in target-rich California remains unclear. But one thing is quite evident - we should be careful about the messages we send to would-be terrorists. And Sara Jane Olson should pay for her crimes by staying where she is, for a long time.

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K. Lloyd Billingsley is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. He can be reached via
email at klbillingsley@pacificresearch.org.