American activist for the rights of crime victims, best known as the mother of actress Sharon Tate. After Sharon Tate and several others were murdered by members of the Manson Family in 1969, Doris Tate began working to raise public awareness about the U.S. corrections system. She was influential in a court decision that amended California criminal laws relating to the rights of victims of violent crime.
She was part of a group that worked toward the passage of Proposition 8, the Victim’s Rights Bill, which was passed in 1982. It allowed the presentation of victim impact statements during the sentencing of violent attackers. Tate became the first Californian to make such a statement after the law was passed, when she spoke at the parole hearing of one of her daughter’s killers.
In 1984 she ran for the California State Assembly as an advocate for victim’s rights. Though unsuccessful, she continued to campaign for changes to existing laws, and was involved in the passage of Proposition 89, which allowed the governor of the state to overturn decisions made by the Board of Prison Terms.
Doris Tate’s health began to deteriorate after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. In 1992, she was one of several volunteer workers recognized by President George H. W. Bush as one of a “Thousand Points of Light.” The ceremony, during which Tate and her family were honoured by the President for their work in promoting victims’ rights, marked Tate’s final public appearance. She died on 10 July that year at the age of 68.
Her work was taken over by her younger daughters, Debra and Patricia. The Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau, a non-profit organization with the aim of monitoring criminal legislation and raising public awareness began in Sacramento, California in July 1993. In 1995, the Doris Tate Crime Victims Foundation was established with the aim of providing assistance to victims and their families. Patti began to represent the Tate family at parole hearings. In 2000 Patricia died. In 1997 Debra Tate attended the parole hearing of Patricia Krenwinkel and since then has attended the parole hearings of every member of the Manson family currently imprisoned for the Tate-Labianca murders. She actively campaigns against the release of any of the Manson family convicted of murder.
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