Here's an incredible story from Vermont: a child molester who raped a 10-year-old girl many times over the course of four years has been sentenced to 60 days in jail.
There was outrage Wednesday when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl many,many times over a four-year span starting when she was seven.The judge said he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation.
Prosecutors argued that confessed child-rapist Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston deserved at least eight years behind bars for repeatedly raping a littler girl countless times starting when she was seven.
But Judge Edward Cashman disagreed explaining that he no longer believes that punishment works. ...
Judge Cashman also also revealed that he once handed down stiff sentences when he first got on the bench 25 years ago, but he no longer believes in punishment.
"I discovered it accomplishes nothing of value;it doesn't make anything better;it costs us a lot of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger,"Cashman explained to the people in the court.
If you've read my ealier posts on crime and punishment you may not be surprised to learn that I agree with this judge -- in a way. I'm a big believers in punishment, but prison terms often aren't the best way to punish an offender. Mark Hulett may simply need to be executed, but even if that's too harsh he should face public beatings and humiliation in addition to any imprisonment. Make the punishment fit the crime. Perhaps being put in stocks in a public square for four years would be ample punishment and also encourage him to change his ways.
Good for you Micheal. How do we start a movement. However, if it is 60 days in jail or 8 years in jail, and those are the only choices, I say 8 years.
It is hard for me to imagine a society that doesn't execute child rapists, especially this young. In fact, I'd like to see much, much stronger punishment for any clearcut case of rape.
But, of course, we can't do that, because the rapist is just expressing his unhappiness over the way his Mommy treated him.
According to William Arthur Ward, these are the mistakes to avoid:
Remorse over yesterday’s failures.
Anxiety over today’s problems.
Worry over tomorrow’s uncertainty.
Waste of the moment’s opportunity.
Procrastination with one’s present duty.
Resentment of another’s success.
Criticism of a neighbor’s imperfection.
Impatience with youth’s immaturity.
Skepticism of our nation’s future.
Unbelief in God’s providence.
Selah.
Instead of wasting our angst on blogs we can contact the judge directly
Edward J Cashman
29 Lamoille St
Essex Junction, VT 05452-3729
(802) 872-0615