Once again, Sara Jane Olson wants to have it her way.

Thursday, November 15, 2001

Once again, Sara Jane Olson wants to have it her way.

After pleading guilty for trying to blow up police cars as a member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army in 1975, Olson – known then as Kathleen Soliah – now says &uot;upon deeper reflection&uot; she wants to withdraw her plea and go to trial.

This kind of ploy is the latest example of ridiculous posturing from the 54-year-old ex-fugitive, who passed nearly 25 years by hiding out as a housewife in St. Paul. When she was finally caught, she had the audacity to act insulted that she was going to be tried for her crimes.

Since then, it’s been one silly stall tactic after another for Olson and her lawyers. At one point they argued that the jury was unfair because it didn’t have enough Hispanic representation – even though Olson is not Hispanic. Their assertion that Olson won’t get a fair trial because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is equally unfounded; anybody can make a distinction between foreign terrorists crashing planes into buildings and the SLA sticking pipe bombs under police cars.

Olson’s chances of having her plea withdrawn are probably not good, and that’s as it should be – after all, pleading guilty while maintaining her innocence in the press, then trying to withdraw the plea, could very well be nothing more than another ploy to try and gain sympathy. Plus, it’s again hard to feel sorry for her; if she didn’t bother to &uot;reflect deeply&uot; before deciding to plead guilty, that’s her problem.

She committed a crime, and for the purposes of our justice system, she admitted it. It’s time for her to serve her long-overdue time.