LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- California 's director of adult prisons is recommending against `` compassionate release '' for a terminally ill former Manson family member , a spokeswoman said . Susan Atkins is led from a Los Angeles grand jury room after her indictment in the 1969 `` Manson murders . '' Suzan Hubbard , director of the Division of Adult Institutions , decided that Susan Atkins ' request should not be sent to the sentencing court for consideration , said Terry Thornton , spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation . Hubbard 's recommendation is advisory and will not necessarily prevent Atkins ' release . The court -- not the department or the state Board of Parole Hearings -- has the final say on whether Atkins should be released , Thornton said . `` They 're the only ones legally who can recall the sentence , '' she added . Atkins , 60 , was convicted in the 1969 slayings of actress Sharon Tate and four others . She had been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Corona , California , but has been hospitalized since mid-March . Her request is now before the Board of Parole Hearings , which is conducting an independent investigation and will hear the case during its monthly public meeting , Thornton said . The next meeting is scheduled July 15 . Atkins had been held for years at the Corona prison , which earlier determined that she met the criteria for compassionate release under the law , and sent her request to the corrections department . The Board of Parole Hearings will receive public comment , discuss the request in closed session and then announce its recommendation . The board also can decide whether to refer the request to the sentencing court . The court , based in Los Angeles , can either grant or deny Atkins ' request . It also can recall her life sentence and resentence Atkins to a lesser term , allowing for her to be paroled . In 2007 , the department received 60 compassionate release requests , Thornton said . Ten were approved . Citing privacy rules , prison officials would not disclose the nature of Atkins ' illness . Her husband and attorney , James Whitehouse , has been quoted as saying she has terminal brain cancer , according to a blog called Manson Family Today . She also has had a leg amputated , the Los Angeles Times has reported . Atkins , known within the Manson family as `` Sadie Mae Glutz , '' has been in prison since 1971 and has been denied parole 11 times . She is California 's longest-serving female inmate . Tate and three houseguests were slain in August 1969 by killers who burst into her Benedict Canyon home . A teenager who was visiting the home 's caretaker in his cottage on the property also was killed . According to historical accounts of the murders , Atkins stabbed Tate , who was 8½ months pregnant , and wrote the word `` pig '' in blood on the door of the home the actress shared with her husband , director Roman Polanski . The following night , Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were slain in their home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles . The two-day crime spree sent shock waves throughout Los Angeles . All of the killers remain behind bars . Atkins also was convicted in the earlier murder of music teacher Gary Hinman . Atkins , like family leader Charles Manson , received a death sentence . Her punishment was changed to life in prison when the California Supreme Court ruled the state 's death penalty unconstitutional in 1972 . Atkins is a born-again Christian , according to a Web site maintained by her husband . During her incarceration , the site says , Atkins has worked to help at-risk youth , victims of violent crimes and homeless children . Last month , authorities dug for buried bodies at the Inyo County , California , ranch where Manson and his followers once lived , after police became aware that testing had indicated humans might be buried there . Nothing was found , police said .
Decision puts case in parole board 's hands , spokeswoman says . Susan Atkins is serving life sentence for role in Manson family murders of late 1960s . Comment: