Robert F. Kennedy's daughter argues against release of his assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, from prison

Rory Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, argued Wednesday against the release of her father's assassin from prison following the approval of his parole by a California board last week. 

Sirhan Sirhan, who has spent more than 50 years in prison following his guilty plea for the 1968 assassination of Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, still needs his parole approved by the full board and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom before actually being released.

In a guest essay for The New York Times, Kennedy implored the full parole board and Newsom to deny freedom from prison to Sirhan, arguing that he was "not deserving" of it because he hasn't been willing to take responsibility for his actions. 

ROBERT KENNEDY'S ASSASSIN SIRHAN SIRHAN GRANTED PAROLE BY CALIFORNIA BOARD

"My mother and the majority of my siblings agree with what I now write, although a couple do not. But I will say, for myself, while that night of terrible loss has not defined my life, it has had impact beyond measure," Kennedy wrote in The Times. She never met her father, as her mother was pregnant with her when he was murdered.

"My father’s murder was absolute, irreversible, a painful truth that I have had to live with every day of my life; he was indeed taken forever," she added. "Because he was killed before I was born, it meant I never had the chance to see my father’s face and he never had the chance to see mine. He never tossed me in the air, taught me to ride a bicycle, dropped me off at my freshman dorm, walked me down the aisle." 

Kennedy argued that her father's death potentially had a far greater impact on the country than was calculable, citing his opposition to the war in Vietnam, which she pointed out went on for seven more years after his death, as well as his desire to address poverty, racism, and those wrongfully convicted in prison.

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She also voiced her opposition to Sirhan's default sentence of "life with the possibility of parole" after the death penalty was suspended by the Supreme Court in 1972, citing the non-existence of "life without parole" as an alternative sentence in California at the time.

"The fact stands that while my father would be dead forever, Mr. Sirhan was not sentenced to prison forever," Kennedy said. "And what I do know is that Mr. Sirhan is not someone deserving of parole. I believe this despite last week’s recommendation by the Los Angeles County parole board’s two-member panel to consider his release." 

Kennedy argued that Sirhan wasn't suitable for release because he was unable, for decades, to take responsibility for his actions. 

"It is true that Mr. Sirhan has been incarcerated for a long time. For 53 years, to be exact. That is, after all, an easy number for me to track. It is the same number of years that my father has been dead. It is the age that I turn on my birthday this year," she added.

"The decision to release Mr. Sirhan still has to be reviewed by the full parole board and then by California’s governor. I ask them, for my family — and I believe for our country, too — to please reject this recommendation and keep Sirhan Sirhan in prison."

Kennedy was shot on June 6, 1968, minutes after delivering his California Democratic primary victory speech. Sirhan, who is Palestinian, said he killed Kennedy over his support of Israel. 

Two of his 11 children have voiced support for Sirhan's freedom.

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Kennedy's assassination came two months after the killing of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and less than five years after his brother President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.