Posted on 02/03/2006 1:48:58 PM PST by Jim Robinson
BURLINGTON - It began with an inaccurate local television news report, with the errors repeated by Vermont print and broadcast media. The story was quickly picked up by Internet bloggers and right-wing talk radio and soon reached at least three sensationalist national cable shows. Within a week, bloggers were posting ever more extreme comments, calling for vigilante action against a longtime Vermont judge and posting his home address and phone online. State politicians jumped at the chance to be on national television, repeating the errors and adding to them. Nationwide, there were calls for boycotts of Vermont if the judge were not removed from the bench. Both the Republican governor and the Democratic Speaker of the House joined in condemnation of the judge.
~~ snip ~~
Another blog which promoted the WCAX story was freerepublic.com where postings were equally intemperate. Any parent that does not move from Vermont immediately needs their head examined!, one declared. More proof liberals do not care about children, although thats what we keep hearing is the reason to take our money. Appeals to vigilante justice were frequent: Time to get a rope, preached one writer. Get two, one for hizzoner and one for the perp! Same tree, side by side would send a clear message to perps and judges! echoed another.
Postings soon included links to the website of Gov. James Douglas, so that complaints about Cashman could be submitted electronically. Another posting provided the judges home address and telephone number. Bloggers pushed for national coverage of the story. Rush [Limbaugh] mentioned this case at the end of his show today, and I hope [Bill] OReilly comes on board when he returns on Monday . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at vermontguardian.com ...
Here is what the perp deserved.
It is not just you, I have thought so for a long time. They are everywhere in society.
Yes, I know but the article says the defendant pled guilty as part of a deal by which he would not be sentenced to more than 90 days in prison. The deal usually would be with the prosecutor.
More importantly, after pressure was applied, the judge backed down and gave the criminal a little bit of prison time.
His sentence should involve having done to him what he did to that little girl...by a guy as well endowed as John Holmes and as tough as Mike Tyson...three times as often and for three times as long as he did it to her.
Exactly, provided he followed treatment and probation guidelines 60 days is the time he would do and the rest of the sentence would apply if he did not, which was explained on O'Reilly and elsewhere at the time.
There are no revelations in this piece. They are making the bogus excuse that the 60 day sentence was not an outrage in itself. They are well aware that the determination of how well the probationer is doing is up the Judge and probation officers and that process in no way protects the public as well as incarceration of the offender. On the streets he could reoffend and get away with it. In prison there are no children available to molest.
The piece goes on to criticize the posters and bloggers who express their outrage over Judge Cashman. If an observer is not outraged by this decision they are the ones who are wrong. Apparently, Will Hunter is among them.
Actually, I would like to see the judge get some rope too, of course, after a fair and speedy trial, and in accordance with the laws of the land... and a hanging judge.
Maybe Will Hunter thinks raping children is okay.
He is certainly more concerned about the rehabilitation of the perpetrator and the career his enabler (the judge) than he is about the poor child victim.
Not a word about the injustice visited upon an innocent child and her rehabilitation.
Too bad we can't lock up this writer along with the judge and pedophile.
Postings soon included links to the website of Gov. James Douglas, so that complaints about Cashman could be submitted electronically. Another posting provided the judges home address and telephone number. Bloggers pushed for national coverage of the story. Rush [Limbaugh] mentioned this case at the end of his show today, and I hope [Bill] OReilly comes on board when he returns on Monday . ..wrote one. [FReeper: who knows what evil?] -- My bet is OReilly will be all over this if he heres [sic] about it, another predicted.[FReeper: unknown. This looks an awful lot like my post, however mine ended after the word "this".]
Remember - Vermont elected Howard Dean governor. That says a lot about its citizens.
Looks like a playscape. Prob'ly feel right at home.
No, it was not. It was simply incomplete. The sentence was, in fact, indeterminate and the perp might very well get off with 60 days' prison time (plus probation).
This newspaper is conducting precisely the sort of disinformation campaign it accuses FR of parcipating in, predicated on the assumption that treatment and not incarceration is the answer to this particular class of offense. It has not substantiated that assumption in the least; much of the literature on the subject suggests that treatment for child molestation is at best of questionable effectiveness and that the recidivism rate is very high. Nothing has changed with respect to the overall issue of this sentence being appropriate to years of child abuse.
Bump
There can be no doubt that this moron in a robe intended for this scumbag to serve only 60 days in jail.
The author of this article above is a liar. Did you here me pal, you're a damned liar and if you had any balls you'd join in this thread.
What is even more reprehensible is the judge saying this "I think the girls situation, the young girls situation is remedial." In other words, the girl is secondary because the shmuck in the robe, being godlike, knows the girl will recover fully from being molested by this pos and his friend he pimped her out to.
The molester is a disgusting pos, his defenders are worse.
LAWYER TARGETED BY RAID ASSERTS HIS INNOCENCE
"..CAVENDISH, Vt. -- William A. Hunter was awakened at 3 a.m. June 9 by loud knocking on the door of the four-bedroom Cape on a dirt road where he lives with his wife and three young children.
He stumbled downstairs to find seven agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency at his door.
They handed Hunter, a lawyer, a search warrant that said several of his clients had been arrested that night on drug charges and the government was looking for records of their illegal business activities. A judge approved the search of his home and basement office.
Hunter, 41, a Harvard Law School graduate and former state legislator who runs a law practice in Vermont that more closely resembles a legal aid service, would learn later that day that he was a suspect in a money laundering scheme. Newspaper headlines said so the next day, quoting an affidavit filed in US District Court.
The reports have stunned residents and lawyers in Vermont, where Hunter is a widely known, controversial figure - revered by some for his representation of so many poor people, reviled by others for the zealousness of his defense of many of the same people.
Hunter's shabby tweed jackets and his junk cars are a frequent source of ridicule, as is his lateness for court hearings.
After reviewing the case of a former client that Hunter represented in a divorce, the professional conduct board for lawyers in Vermont ruled last year that Hunter was overextended by all of the work he does for disadvantaged clients.
While the board expressed some sympathy for him, it put him on probation for nine months for mishandling the divorce case..."
/s
Time to get a rope, preached one writer. Get two, one for hizzoner and one for the perp! Same tree, side by side would send a clear message to perps and judges! echoed another.
HEY! I think I remember that posting!
That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard in my life!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.