Posted on 01/05/2006 5:23:48 PM PST by wagglebee
BURLINGTON, January 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to a Vermont judge, serious crime should not be subject to punishment. “The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul.” So said Judge Edward Cashman who then gave a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl repeatedly for four years starting when the girl – the child of a friend - was six and ending when she was ten.
Mark Hulett, 34, pleaded guilty in District Court in Burlington to two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, all felonies. The law allowed for him to face up to life in prison on the charges, but the judge decided that he should be let go after 60 days, since the state Corrections Department would not offer Hulett sex-offender counseling until after his release.
Only if Hulett fails to obtain counseling or otherwise follow instructions once he is freed
will he face the full sentence.
The state prosecutors, along with the girl’s family were seeking the maximum sentence of 8 to 20 years in a federal prison.
“Punishment is a valid purpose,” Chittenden Deputy Prosecutor Nicole Andreson argued. “This is not only about Mr. Hulett. To sentence him to any less demeans the level of trauma he has caused. To sentence him to any less will send a disturbing message of tolerance to the community.”
“The state recognizes that the court may not agree or subscribe to that method of sentencing but the state does. The state thinks that it is a very important factor for the court to consider,” Andreson added.
After ruling that the self-confessed child rapist should be back in the community, Cashman told the family, “This is not a situation where I'm doing this for the family”
“My heart goes out to this family, and I would hate to be in the situation this family is. But there's other families out there, and there's other people who could be victimized, and I'm trying to take the long view,” he said.
Cashman added that a lengthy prison term “will accomplish nothing but to harden this fellow.”
The girl’s mother, however, thought that keeping her child’s rapist off the streets would accomplish something. “Mark should be taken off the street so it is not possible for her to cross his path. She will see Mark enough in her mind,” she said.
Contacts:
Vermont Governor Jim Douglas
109 State Street, Pavilion
Montpelier, VT 05609-0101
Phone: 802 828-3333
(toll-free in VT only: 800 649-6825)
Fax: 802 828-3339
Online communications form at http://www.vermont.gov/governor/contact.html
Vermont Judicial Conduct Board
http://www.vermontjudiciary.org/Committes/boards/j...
Chairman Christopher Davis
802-864-0217
Time to judge the Judges....
No wonder she called Libertarians hippies.
"However, children always have the right to establish their maturity by assuming administration and protection of their own rights, ending dependency upon their parents or other guardians, and assuming all responsibilities of adulthood... Adults have the right to private choice in consensual sexual activity." --Libertarian Party
Par for the course in the People's Republic of Burlington.
If this keeps up, Burlington will take over Ithaca's title as the City of Evil.
Fitting--they already had one as their Governor (Dean)
He'll be lucky to survive 60 days in any lock-up.
Even scumbag convicts hate child molesters.
Gay marriage, this judge/ruling and Howard Dean. Talk about an "unholy trinity"...
I'd like to see what other sentences this "judge" has handed down, and then I'd like to see him removed. Pilloried on national television, with information of each stupid decision printed and vocalized added to the visual might even scare a few of the other judges.
One can only wonder why this judge shows so much empathy for this child rapist. I think this poor excuse for a judge needs to be investigated for his own sexual behavior.
I e-mailed the reporter (Brian Joyce at WCAX-TV) to urge him to lead a campaign for this judge's removal.
Here is his response:
"Impeachment in Vermont is only for judges who take bribes, steal money,or otherwise commit some kind of financial 'maladministration.' Judge Cashman is however up for his 6-year legislative retention hearings in March 0f 2007. Also, we have a Judicial Conduct Board which considers complaints and can move to punish judges with everything from a letter of reprimand to removal, but that board is limited to considering only ethical or misconduct issues."
I think the Judicial Conduct Board should hear from us regardless. I also e-mailed the story to O'Reilly. Any other ideas?
Sweet talking Bill into taking the story I see.
This sentence is a disgrace. Plenty of heat should be put on this judge, and quickly.
What you said. Bump.
The fact is, anybody who depends on the courts and "the system" for justice is a complete fool.
This is nothing new.
Some posters are more equal than others. Sometimes it's signup date - old timers are often allowed leeway that youngsters like me - and what to speak of you - aren't allowed.
That said, it's an imperfect world, and it's unravelling as we speak.
Just remember the story of the Tar Baby and stay away from sticky stinky stuff!
Amen. Vermont has just become the "welcome wagon" for every child molester and pedophile in America..."with our kids, you can have your way; in Vermont, you'll only do sixty days". Conservatives...for the sake of your children; get out of Vermont.
It's too late.
He did big time tonight. The judge whould be removed period. He obvioulsy is not capable of judging anything anymore.
Hannity just called for this dirtbag's impeachment on national television. Even Colmes was outraged by this slap on the wrist...he might have been angrier than Sean...it was close.
Only in the world of liberals is a rapist considered the victim.
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