She was influential in a court decision that amended California criminal laws relating to the rights of victims of violent crime.

Eight months pregnant with their first child (who would have been Doris' first grandchild), Tate and four others were murdered at the Polanskis' rented Beverly Hills home in a case that was sensationalized throughout the world.

The killers were eventually identified as Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, acting on behalf of the leader of their group, Charles Manson.

Tate then appeared on various television talk shows, discussing her opinion of the corrections system and the impact her daughter's murder had had on her family.

She joined the Los Angeles chapter of the "Parents of Murdered Children" organization, and while she drew support from the group, also found that she was rewarded by assuming the role of counsellor.

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.

Tate's assessment of Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten was that their crimes were so vicious as to warrant execution.

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.