Man Gets 60 Days For Raping Girl/Changed to 3-10 yrs.
Man Gets 60 Days For Repeatedly Raping Girl Sentence Outrages Victim's Family POSTED: 5:27 pm EST January 5, 2006 UPDATED: 6:01 pm EST January 5, 2006 BOSTON -- A Vermont man who admitted to repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in prison. NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported that Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston, Vt., pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. "I'm sorry to the family," Hulett said. He asked Judge Edward Cashman for rehabilitation instead of prison. "Like I said, I want to get the treatment. I need it," Hulett said. Hulett's guilty plea meant that he could have been sentenced to life in prison, but state Department of Corrections officials considered him a low risk for committing a similar crime. They would not offer him sex-offender treatment if he went to prison. Cashman decided that a two-month sentence and long-term sex offender treatment would be better than locking him away from society for a long time. "I'm not doing this for the family. I'm taking the long view," Cashman said. The victim's doctor and family members wanted him to stay in prison for the rest of his life. "This is something that she will never recover from," said Dr. Joseph Hagan, the victim's doctor. "The thought of my niece enduring this … she's a prisoner in her own home. She has to fear going to bed at night," the victim's aunt said. Hulett will have to spend the rest of his life on probation. If he fails to get court-ordered counseling after his 60 days in jail, he could still be sent to prison for life. Some state senators want to take away judicial discretion with similar sex offender cases. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/5869543/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=news

Fire & Police : Judge Sentences Serial Rapist of Child to Mere 60 Days Jail Time Posted by Jason Saine on 2006/1/6 19:28:10 News by the same author by Jim Kouri, CPP A Vermont judge sentenced a man who repeatedly raped a 6-year old girl for four years to a jail term of 60 days, shocking the entire city of Burlington. Mark Hulett, who admitted to repeatedly sexually abused a child over a four-year period, got a slap on the wrist in a Vermont courtroom this week and will be free to walk the streets in as few as 60 days, according to the Burlington Free Press. He sexually assaulted the girl for years, beginning when she was only 6 until she was 10, according to the prosecutor. The prosecution wanted at least an eight year sentence, and says he could have received life in prison. However, Corrections Department officials said they were unable to provide psychiatric or psychological treatment to Hulett in jail. Judge Edward Cashman then decided to set the jail term at a minimum of 60 days. Judge Cashman defended his ruling by saying that without treatment, a long jail term would only harden Hulett and make him more dangerous when he is released. He seemed to feel that decision would keep society safer from this offender's sexual deviancy in the long run. "This judge has got to go. It's appalling that he's so concerned over the treatment of a sexual predator who sexually assaulted a little girl over and over and over again," says former New York City Police Department sex crimes detective Sid Francis, who now runs a private detective agency. "The people of Vermont have got to dump this judge. He's dangerous," added the decorated cop. Numerous studies on rehabilitation of sexual predators -- especially child predators -- strongly suggested that sex offenders very rarely get rehabilitated. In a previous case, Judge Cashman threw out a drunk driving charge on an alleged technicality, prompting the prosecutors to request such cases not go before Judge Cashman. Cashman claims punishment doesn't work. But critics say he's supposed to apply the law, not base decisions on his personal views. Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3604

Shockingly Short Sentence Prompts Outcry For Harsher Punishment Judge Sentenced Sex Offender To 60 Days For Abusing Girl Over 4 Years POSTED: 6:56 pm EST January 6, 2006 UPDATED: 7:02 pm EST January 6, 2006 MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A recent sentence sending an admitted sex offender to prison for just 60 days has prompted a cry at the Statehouse for tougher sentences and more effective treatment. Republicans said they want a minimum sentence of 25 years to be mandatory for those convicted of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and second and subsequent offenses of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child younger than 12. Democrats already have been working on similar measures. The issue arises out of the sentencing Wednesday in Burlington of 34-year-old Mark Hulett of Williston. He admitted abusing a young girl over four years. Judge Edward Cashman sentenced him to three years to life, but suspended all but 60 days of the prison time. That's because the judge determined Hulett wouldn't get any counseling until after he's released. http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/5894513/detail.html?rss=pla&psp=news

Why Child Rapist Was Classified Least Likely To Re-offend Burlington, Vermont -- January 6, 2006 A judge's ruling for a sex offender not only raises concerns about sentencing limits, but about Vermont's sex offender therapy program. At issue is a prison policy that delays therapy for some sex offenders until they are back on the streets. Under law, the primary mission of Vermont's prison system is to rehabilitate criminals to rejoin society. The programs include corrective-therapy for sex offenders. Problem is, some sex offenders must first be released to get into the program. "I'm not surprised that the community is upset about this. Sex offenses are very serious," said Georgia Cumming, Executive Director of Vermont's Sex Offender Treatment Program. Cumming says she understands why the public was upset when child-rapist Mark Hulett received a 60-day sentence for repeatedly raping a little girl. Judge Edward Cashman has come under fire for the sentence. The judge says getting Hulett out of prison quickly is the only way to get Hulett into sex offender treatment program quickly because Hulett is classified as a low-risk offender, so he ineligible for in-prison treatment. "All of the literature I've read said if you're interested in changing behavior, you don't have to do it inside. If anything, you have a better chance of success with an outside program," said Cashman when he handed out the 60-day sentence to Hulett on Wednesday. Vermont's sex offender program has three categories of sex offender starting with level A -- like Hulett. He is considered to be low-risk and treatment starts only after he gets out of prison. Level B are medium to high risk offenders. They begin treatment inside prison. Level C are considered very high risk to re-offend and they begin treatment only near the end of their sentence, if at all. Cumming says many factors are taken into consideration to determine the classifications. "We look at does a person have a prior sexual offense? Does the offender have a prior non-sexual record? Has that offender offended against a stranger. So, the relationship of the offender to the victim tells you something about the type of risk they pose," Cumming explained. As for Hulett, despite the severity of his crime, because he molested a neighbor's child, he qualifies as low-risk under the rating system. "Well, offenders who have offended against a family member or another relative or neighbor who has not committed a prior offense typically score low on these risk assessment instruments, particularly if they have not, do not have any prior criminal history," Cumming added. Governor Douglas asked his staff to reexamine sex offender classification policies. In the meantime, the Chittenden County prosecutor and Vermont's Attorney General say they may ask Judge Cashman to reconsider the sentence of Mark Hulett, and the possibility of appealing the sentence to the Supreme Court. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4330770&nav=4QcS

Judge Asked To Step Down After Controversial Sentence POSTED: 10:12 am EST January 10, 2006 UPDATED: 10:35 am EST January 10, 2006 MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Controversy is brewing after a judge's decision to give a convicted sex offender 60 days in prison after he admitted to sexually assaulting a girl, now 10, for four years. At least one area lawmaker, Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington, said Judge Edward Cashman violated the state constitution when he told the court that punishment would accomplish nothing in the case of Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston. Hulett admitted to abusing a young girl over four years. Cashman sentenced Hulett to three years to life, but suspended all but 60 days of the prison time because the state said Hulett would not receive treatment if he were in prison. If Hulett rejects treatment or neglects other parts of his sentencing, he faces life in prison. But critics felt Cashman's sentence was too lenient, and want the judge to be removed from the bench. Wright will introduce a resolution on Tuesday calling on Cashman to step down. The move is one of three options available to lawmakers if they decide Cashman should leave the bench for his decision. The House and Senate also can impeach any state official by a two-thirds vote. Records show it's only happened five times in state history, and never before with a judge. A third option is the judicial retention process. Each judge comes up for review every six years. Should Cashman choose to stay on the bench, he will appear before a judicial retention committee in March 2007. The committee makes its recommendation to a joint session, after which lawmakers vote to keep or dismiss the judge. Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Hulett case plan to file a motion asking Cashman to reconsider his ruling. http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/5974573/detail.html?rss=pla&psp=news

Judge Cashman defends his decision to impose 60 day sentence BURLINGTON, Vt. -- District Court Judge Edward Cashman is standing by the 60-day minimum sentence he imposed on a man convicted of having repeated sexual contact with a young girl. The goal in handing down the sentence on Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston is the long-term protection of the public from a man Cashman considers to be a greater threat to re-offend if he does not receive immediate sex-offender treatment, the judge wrote. Cashman said in court documents filed Tuesday that he would have required more jail time for Hulett if he could have received sex offender treatment in jail. "Sentencing is not the end of a problem," he wrote. "It should be the start of a solution." Hulett received a combined sentence of a 10-year minimum to a maximum of life in prison for his conviction on two charges of aggravated sexual assault and a lesser offense, with all but 60 days suspended. "The court maximized the long-term public safety protection at the cost of what now appears as being 'soft' on child molesters," Cashman wrote. "At sentencing, the court viewed the defendant as a dangerous man, likely to engage in future crime unless he has proper and timely treatment." The maximum sentence of life in prison "sought to ensure public safety should Mr. Hulett fail in or refuse treatment during the first 10-year term," Cashman wrote. Cashman's decision has been condemned by Gov. James Douglas, who said he was appalled by it. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for legislation with mandatory minimum sentences for sex crimes. One state senator is urging his impeachment. "This guy has got to go," said state Sen. Wendy Wilton, R-Rutland. "People believe he has flipped his lid." House Republicans on Tuesday introduced a resolution calling on Cashman to resign. "Like all Vermonters, Republican legislators are astonished by Judge Cashman's lack of judgment in this case," said Assistant House GOP leader David Sunderland, R-Rutland. "Cashman's decision raises real questions about Vermont's judicial system, a system we already believed needed reforms to protect the public from extreme violent and sexual predators." Cashman filed court papers Tuesday in which he reconsidered the sentence he imposed on Hulett last week. He did not change the sentence, but the document gave him the opportunity to more fully explain the original decision. Cashman said he was aware of the criticism his decision had prompted. "The negative comments sting," he wrote. "I am aware that the intensity of some public criticism may shorten my judicial career," Cashman said. "To change my decision now, however, simply because of some negative sentiment, would be wrong. "I owe it to the judiciary and to my own conscience to maintain a stand that I believe is the best possible option in a very difficult situation," he said. Hulett pleaded guilty last summer to charges that he sexually assaulted the victim on at least three occasions over a four-year period. The assaults included oral-genital contact and genital touching, documents said. Hulett was a friend of the victim's family and stayed in her home frequently. The victim's parents were aware that Hulett had an interest in the girl and that the two, on some occasions, slept in the same bed. Police were alerted to the case after the victim told an older girl what had happened. The Department of Correction's sex offender treatment team and Hulett's attorney argued his risk to re-offend was low and that he should be treated in the community. But Cashman disagreed with those assessments. He wrote that Hulett had the emotional maturity of a 12- to 14-year old and Hulett didn't understand why others were so upset by his actions. Experts found that Hulett was in a group of sex offenders who are harder to treat than others and that he would need a lifetime of supervision. "The solution to these concerns requires quick and effective treatment," Cashman wrote. "Delay in treatment, especially if connected with lengthy imprisonment, creates additional risks by hardening the defendant into a pattern of thinking that further alienates him from the fundamental social values we are trying to promote." But the sex offender treatment team told the court that Hulett would not be eligible for treatment during his minimum sentence. "This creates the most difficult dilemma of the sentencing," Cashman wrote. "Any extensive minimum sentence prevents meaningful treatment. Delay of treatment within a closed facility increases the long-term risk the defendant presents to the community. Given these options the court chose to reduce the long-term risks and permit an opportunity for quick treatment." Cashman said that during the sentencing hearing he was tempted by the calls for a long prison sentence. "The issue to his court is not retribution as a sentencing tool, but rather its appropriateness to meet sentencing goals in specific cases," Cashman said. "I hope I have made clear that the amount of retribution sought in this case is self-defeating. Deterring future crimes of sexual abuse of children requires the court's very best efforts to use the available tools." http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4343289&nav=4QcS

Cashman defends sex offender sentence amid firestorm January 11, 2006 By Louis Porter VERMONT PRESS BUREAU Judge Edward Cashman MONTPELIER - As Republican lawmakers in Montpelier called for his resignation and conservative news outlets and Web sites around the country called for his head, Judge Edward Cashman on Tuesday defended the controversial sentence he gave a sex offender. Cashman, a district court judge in Burlington, sentenced Mark Hulett to as little as 60 days in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl over a four-year period, beginning when she was six years old. Hulett was given a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, with all but 60 days suspended. He will remain on probation for life, and could be sent back to prison if he violates the conditions of his release. In an order affirming his sentence, Cashman said Tuesday that society would be better protected if Hulett received sex-offender treatment than if he was given a longer sentence and his treatment was delayed. "The Corrections Department presents the court with a sentencing dilemma," Cashman wrote. "It requires the court to decide between two less-than-ideal options." "This sentence provides the Commissioner of Corrections and the Parole Board maximum flexibility in how they address the concerns raised by Mr. Hulett's conduct," Cashman wrote. An offender like Hulett - judged by corrections to be less likely than other sex offenders to commit another crime - will receive treatment after his release, but not while in prison. That is partially because prison crowding makes space for such treatments tight, said Corrections Commissioner Robert Hofmann. Treatment upon release has been shown to be quite effective, he added. That policy will now be reviewed, in part because of the controversy over the Hulett case, Hofmann said. "This court shares the concerns of many that untreated sexual offenders are now returning to the community after fully serving lengthy incarcerate sentences," Cashman wrote. "Public safety is at risk." But there is a reason beyond rehabilitation for prison sentences, one not taken into account by Cashman, Hofmann said. That reason is punishment. "Because of the offense, he should have incarcerated time to reflect on the pain he has caused and to be punished," the commissioner said. Lawmakers who agreed began gathering support Tuesday for a resolution calling on Cashman to resign from the bench. One of the most worrisome aspects of the sentence is Cashman's apparent rejection of punishment as a legitimate reason for prison terms, said Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington. "If he has come around to that type of thinking, he ought to step down," Wright said. Cashman will come before the Legislature's Judicial Retention Committee in 2007, but Wright said action is needed sooner than that. "You don't wait for a year or a year and a half when the sentence is so outrageous and he has said he doesn't believe in punishment in these cases," Wright said. Cashman's view also goes against the state's Constitution, said Rep. Duncan Kilmartin, R-Newport, who sponsored the resolution with Wright. "Ed Cashman is a personal and longtime friend of mine and I respect his work on the bench," Kilmartin said. But "I believe he violated his constitutional oath of office as a judge." The victim in such a case deserves that a more substantial sentence to be handed down, Kilmartin said. "It's time to stop allowing judges in general ... to hide behind the claim that the sentence has to protect society and not the individual victim," he said. Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he wants to learn the details of the case before making up his mind about Cashman's sentence. "Sentencing is complicated and this was further complicated by issues of access to treatment for sex offenders and because of the policies of the Department of Corrections," Lippert said. "This is not simply a 60-day sentence." There is a process for the Legislature to comment on a judge's performance, said Cheryl Hanna, a Vermont Law School professor who specializes in constitutional law. "Explicit in our state Constitution is a way for the legislative branch to check judicial conduct," Hanna said. What can be a problem, however, is if such a call springs from partisan motives, she said. "If there are legislators who are brave enough to call for impeachment they should do that," Hanna said. "What I would hope would come out of the Cashman discussion would be a more fruitful discussion about the criminal justice system and what we should do with sex offenders." There does need to be work done on the "front end" of the judicial system, for instance in sentencing, she added. The case has boosted calls for mandatory minimum sentences in such cases, something Sen. Wendy Wilton, R-Rutland, has been advocating for several months. "We have seen a pattern of light sentencing of sex offenders (who victimize) children and young people," Wilton said. But some, including prosecutors in the state, worry that long mandatory minimum sentences will result in fewer plea bargains and more strain on victims and the court system. "It may unnecessarily put a victim through a trial," said Jane Woodruff, executive director of the Vermont State's Attorneys and Sheriffs Department. Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, said the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he leads, considered mandatory minimum sentences last year and will look at them again. Sears said most of the Vermonters he has talked to have been "appalled" by Cashman's sentence, which he also thinks is inadequate. The case has stirred up interest outside the state as well. Fox News ran a column on the matter under the headline "moronic judges," while a Washington Times column labeled the judge a "knave" for the shortness of the sentence. A conservative Web site, "The American Daily," concluded in its analysis: "Vermont judge is a danger to children." Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com. http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060111/NEWS/60111003/1002

LAW OF THE LAND New sentence possible for '60-day child rapist' Vermont reclassifies assailant, making him eligible for in-prison treatment Posted: January 12, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Responding to outrage against a judge who gave a child rapist only 60 days in prison, the state of Vermont issued an order to pave the way for a lengthy sentence. As WorldNetDaily reported last week, Vermont District Court Judge Edward Cashman said he issued the light sentence to Mark Hulett, 34, because he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned now about rehabilitation. Prosecutors thought Hulett deserved eight to 20 years in prison. Cashman explained he wanted to make sure Hulett gets sex-offender treatment. Under Department of Corrections classification, however, Hulett was considered a low-risk for re-offense, which meant he didn't qualify for in-prison treatment. Cashman decided then to issue a 60-day sentence and ordered Hulett to complete the treatment when he got out or face a possible life sentence. Yesterday, however, Human Services Secretary Michael Smith announced his order to reclassify Hulett, making him eligible for in-prison treatment. "The classification system cannot be used as an excuse not to mete out punishment," Smith said. "As a state official and as a father I have got to look out for the well-being of Vermonters." Prosecutors are expected to return to court Friday to ask Cashman for a new sentence. Meanwhile, Vermont state House Republicans introduced a non-binding resolution yesterday asking Cashman to resign. "We can't tell him what to do, but it would be a pretty powerful statement," Republican Rep. Kurt Wright told the Burlington Free Press. The paper said Wright's resolution was one of several responses consider by legislators to the barrage of complaints from constituents and people across the country. Gov. James Douglas has condemned the decision, saying it appalled him. The state's House Judiciary Committee took testimony this week on Hulett's sentence and planned also to hear from Corrections Department officials. In addition, the panel is considering legislation to require tougher sentences, the Free Press said. Discussion of impeachment proceedings, however, has died down, according to Republican state Sen. Wendy Wilton, who plans to introduce a bill based on "Jessica's law," a nationwide initiative for states that includes barring registered sex offenders from living near schools and parks and requiring them to wear satellite tracking devices. The cornerstone of the measure, Wilton said, is a 25-year minimum mandatory sentence for aggravated sexual assault. In an interview Monday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," Wilton was asked about the bill's chances for success. "Now that this has happened, I think they're pretty darn good," she said, referring to the Cashman controversy. "I was a little concerned when I was here in November that we were going to face an uphill battle, but I think after this, people realize the need for it." Fox host Bill O'Reilly is promoting an e-mail campaign to urge the governor and lawmakers to impeach Cashman. He stated last night the governor's office says it has received more correspondence on the 60-day sentence than any other issue in the history of Vermont. Cashman said in a statement "the negative comments sting." "I am aware that the intensity of some public criticism may shorten my judicial career," he said. "To change my decision now, however, simply because of some negative sentiment, would be wrong. "I owe it to the judiciary and to my own conscience to maintain a stand that I believe is the best possible option in a very difficult situation," he said. Speaking at the sentencing last week to a packed Burlington courtroom made up mostly of people related to the victim, Cashman said: "The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul." The judge said that when he began 25 years ago, he handed down tough sentences but now believes "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'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48303

Calls Arise for Vermont Judge to Resign 10 minutes ago MONTPELIER, Vt. - Judge Edward Cashman should be the darling of conservatives: a churchgoer, a former prosecutor, a Vietnam vet and a member of the bench known for his hard-line stands: A decade ago he jailed for 41 days the parents of a suspect in a rape case because they refused to cooperate with prosecutors. ADVERTISEMENT In the past few days, though, Cashman has been vilified by conservatives on TV and on blogs. On Fox News, Bill O'Reilly told viewers as video of Cashman rolled: "You may be looking at the worst judge in the USA." And several Vermont Republican lawmakers have demanded he resign or be impeached. The reason: Cashman sentenced a child molester to just 60 days of jail time — a sentence he said was designed to ensure the man got prompt sex-offender treatment but critics say was too soft. "As far as we're concerned, Cashman's district can hereby be considered a predator's sanctuary," wrote the Caledonian Record newspaper of St. Johnsbury. "As long as judges like Ed Cashman are allowed to sit on Vermont benches, children cannot be considered safe." Cashman has been unswayed: "I am aware that the intensity of some public criticism may shorten my judicial career," he wrote in a memorandum this week. "To change my decision now, however, simply because of some negative sentiment, would be wrong." The firestorm erupted last week when Cashman sentenced Mark Hulett, 34, for having sexual contact with a girl, beginning when she was 6, over a four-year period. The Corrections Department had concluded that Hulett was unlikely to commit another such offense, and Vermont does not provide sex-offender treatment to such inmates until they reach the end of their jail time. Cashman said he would have imposed more jail time — a three-year minimum — if the state promised treatment while Hulett was jailed. "The solution to these concerns requires quick and effective treatment," the judge wrote. He also noted that Hulett tested at a borderline intelligence level, has the emotional maturity of a 12- to 14-year-old and did not understand why others were so upset by his actions. Republican Gov. James Douglas said Thursday the judge should consider resigning. He condemned the 60-day sentence as insensitive to the victim and her family. "When a grown man rapes a small child, justice is only served when the criminal is behind bars — for a long time — paying for his inexcusable crime," the governor said. On Wednesday, the Correction Department reversed course and said it would allow Hulett to be treated immediately, in hopes Cashman would impose a longer sentence. Prosecutors planned to file a request Friday asking the judge to do so. Apart from the memorandum, Cashman has refused to comment on the furor, citing judicial ethics. In sentencing Hulett to 60 days, Cashman warned the defendant would get life behind bars if he failed to undergo treatment or comply with other conditions, including a prohibition against alcohol or living in an apartment complex that allows children. But the focus fell on the jail time. Calls and e-mails of outrage poured into the Statehouse and the governor's office. Letters to the editor filled newspapers. On Thursday the state's largest newspaper, The Burlington Free Press, called on Cashman to resign. Cashman, 62, is a big, burly, balding and bearded figure, and a strait-laced ex-military man. Soon after he was appointed to the Vermont District Court bench in 1982 by a Republican governor, Cashman and his wife dropped out of their square dancing group because he feared it was unjudgelike. "I can't do the same things everyone else does," he said in an interview several years ago, describing the life of a judge as monk-like. State Sen. Richard Sears, a Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wondered if such distancing led to the sentencing decision. "Have we isolated our judiciary so much that they can't see what public reaction (would be) to a sentence like that?" he asked. Cashman's early years as a judge were marked by complaints that he was insensitive to the concerns of female victims of abuse and that he unfairly favored fathers in custody cases. But those concerns seemed to have vanished by 2001 when Cashman won a new six-year term by a legislative vote of 137-15. Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, a Republican who is also a prosecutor, said the criticism that Cashman is a lenient judge and should be thrown out of office is "contrary to his judicial philosophy and career." "Over the years, if there's been criticism of Judge Cashman, it has been he has been overly harsh on offenders when it comes to sentences and conditions of probation," Illuzzi said. In Cashman's most-publicized case before this one, he threw Arthur and Geneva Yandow in jail after they refused to help prosecutors make a case against their son, a suspect in a rape. The parents said it would violate their Roman Catholic beliefs; Cashman, himself a Catholic, argued otherwise. Cashman has volunteered for almost 20 years at a halfway house for prisoners. He said in an interview in 2000 with the Champlain Business Journal: "If you're going to put someone in jail, you ought to see them on their way out." In that same interview the judge talked about his love of his job. "Every day is a gift," he said. "I keep thinking they're going to come back and say `Oh my God, it was Cushman, not Cashman. Give us back the robe.'" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060113/ap_on_re_us/vermont_judge;_ylt=AhM9mrTu3QzQb72OmbwL1BNH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-

Prosecutors ask Cashman to reconsider sex offender's 'illegal' sentence Published: Saturday, January 14, 2006 By Adam Silverman Free Press Staff Writer The 60-day minimum prison term Judge Edward Cashman gave a sex offender is "illegal" because he did not deem punishment worthy of consideration, and Cashman should throw out the sentence in favor of a lengthier term, prosecutors argued in court papers Friday. In a 12-page rebuke of Cashman's Jan. 4 sentencing decision, which favored treatment over punishment, prosecutors asked the judge to impose a prison term of eight to 20 years on Mark Hulett, a 34-year-old Williston man who pleaded guilty in August to repeatedly sexually assaulting a friend's daughter from the time she was 6 until she turned 10 in April. "The court was required under the law to impose a sentence in which punishment was proportionate to the crime," reads a passage of the prosecution's motion. "Punishment and retribution through incarceration not only promotes the community's legitimate interest in the punishment of the defendant for such an outrageous violation of community values and standards; it also prevents further erosion of belief in the justice system, prevents vigilante actions, tends to deter others and keeps the defendant away from other small children." Hulett defense attorney Mark Kaplan said Friday night he had yet to see the prosecution's request and plans to review it with his client. Kaplan said he will oppose the prosecution's recommended sentence. "We would never contemplate agreeing to eight years," he said. "What my client was really interested in receiving was the treatment." Cashman sentenced Hulett on three felony counts: Aggravated sexual assault on a child, with a sentence of 60 days to 10 years in prison. Aggravated sexual assault on a child, with a suspended sentence of three years to life, consecutive to the first count. Lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, with a suspended sentence of two to five years and consecutive to counts one and two. Hulett cannot be held longer than the 60-day minimum on count one unless he misbehaves in prison or cannot find suitable housing away from children after his release, according to the Corrections Department. Hulett will remain under state supervision after his release and could be incarcerated for up to 99 years if he violates any of 22 conditions governing his release, including that he obtain sex-offender treatment. Cashman said the sentence was prompted by the Corrections Department's decision that Hulett was eligible for sex-offender treatment only after his release. The judge said public safety would best be served by providing Hulett treatment as soon as possible, rather than risk transforming him into a hardened, untreated sex offender. The Agency of Human Services overruled Corrections' determination Wednesday and said Hulett would receive counseling in prison if Cashman hands down a stiffer sentence. Cashman's sentencing decision has prompted calls for his resignation, while others called the ruling reasonable given Corrections' initial judgment on treating Hulett. Particularly controversial were Cashman's remarks during last week's sentencing hearing that he did not consider punishment alone a valid reason to impose a lengthy prison sentence. "I started out as a just-deserts sentencer," Cashman said in court last week, according to a transcript of the proceedings. "I liked it. Across the line, pop them. Well, then 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. "Anger doesn't solve anything," the judge continued, addressing his comments about Hulett to the girl's family. "It just corrodes your own soul. And why would you want him to continue to have control over you? And if you feel anger, he's got control over you." In Friday's motion, prosecutors took issue with Cashman's comments. "The court clearly has strong, sincere beliefs in the rehabilitation of offenders. Vermont law requires the court to consider more than rehabilitation," reads the document, filed late Friday in Vermont District Court in Burlington. "Regardless of the sincerity of the court's beliefs, it was not legally authorized to reject 'punishment' as a sentencing factor. Unfortunately, that is what the court did." The prosecutors who wrote the motion, Chittenden County State's Attorney Bob Simpson and Deputy Attorney General John Treadwell, encouraged Cashman to consider in re-evaluating the sentence that Hulett would receive treatment while in prison. Cashman wrote in court papers this week that he would have sentenced Hulett to serve three years if prison-based treatment had been available. Kaplan said he has 10 business days to file a written response to Friday's request, and then Cashman is likely to set a hearing on the issue. If Cashman were to change the sentence, Hulett must consent. Under an agreement between him and Cashman made in August, Hulett may withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial if he would be held in prison longer than 90 days. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com PROSECUTORS' VIEW To see read the prosecutors' document, follow this link to the Motion for Sentence Reconsideration PDF file: http://burlingtonfreepress.com/assets/pdf/BT16051113.PDF SENTENCING HEARING For the full transcript of the Jan. 4 sentencing hearing of sex offender Mark Hulett, go to: http://edit.burlingtonfreepress.gannettonline.com/assets/pdf/BT16071113.PDF

GOP lawmaker says media partly to blame in sex-offender story Published: Saturday, January 14, 2006 By Ross Sneyd The Associated Press MONTPELIER -- A key Republican legislator said Friday much of the furor that has surrounded a judge's sentencing of a repeated child offender could have been avoided if the media had done a better job reporting what the judge had done. Rep. Michael Kainen of Hartford, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said his reading of Judge Edward Cashman's sentence is that Mark Hulett, 34, will spend well more than 60 days in prison, but that has been lost in the news media's reporting. He did not name specific media outlets or reporters. "If it were accurately reported, I think there would have been a little less furor," said Kainen, a practicing lawyer. Kainen's comment came at the end of a news briefing in which the leadership of the Judiciary Committee outlined its latest proposal for tackling sexual crimes. The committee has recommended a bill that would establish special investigative units devoted to investigating sex crimes in every county in the state. The panel has recommended spending at least $500,000 in each of the next three years on the State's Attorneys Department, which will coordinate creation of countywide or regionwide special units of police, prosecutors, social workers and other professionals combating sex crimes. The units would cover every corner of the state. "Consistently, testimony has shown the most effective way to investigate and prosecute crimes of sexual violence is to have special investigative units," said Judiciary Committee Chairman William Lippert, D-Hinesburg. Lippert and committee Vice Chairwoman Maxine Grad said the latest bill was not a response to the controversy over Cashman's sentence of Hulett. "We've been working on this a long time," Grad said. Nonetheless, the Judiciary Committee will become the focus of the Cashman issue. A resolution calling on the judge to resign over the Hulett sentencing is pending in that committee and Lippert said the panel would begin discussing next week how to address it. Lippert said he anticipated the committee taking some action and forwarding the issue to the full House, although he could not say what the recommendation would be. "It's not our intention for us to have that remain in our committee," he said. Grad said one of the issues the committee must consider is whether it's appropriate for the Legislature to get involved in an issue with another branch of government. "I think the first question is what is the appropriate role of the Legislature within our constitutional bounds," she said. All of the Judiciary Committee leaders said they were trying to gather the facts of the Hulett case independently so they could judge the case for themselves. Kainen said one of the things he had done was read the judge's sentencing memorandum and he had concluded that there was very little likelihood that Hulett would serve just 60 days, especially now that the administration has said he will receive sexual offender treatment. The judge placed a long list of stringent conditions on when and how he can be released, setting the stage for potentially a life sentence, Kainen said. "What Cashman did was essentially civil commit this guy," Kainen said. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/NEWS01/601140310/1009&theme=

Sears 'appalled' by Cashman decision PATRICK McARDLE, Staff Writer Saturday, January 14 BENNINGTON — Sen. Dick Sears, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is "appalled" by the 60-day minimum sentence given to a convicted child molester, but says there is little the Legislature can do about it. "I'm extremely disappointed by Judge Cashman's decision - actually, disappointed is not a strong enough word," he said. "Probably appalled." Sears said he had asked Cashman to reconsider his verdict and hoped he would. Last week, Cashman sentenced Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston, to a 60-day minimum sentence. Hulett was convicted last summer of two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a young girl. Because of the sentence and Cashman's remarks in court that he no longer believes in punishment, Gov. James Douglas has suggested that Cashman consider resigning. Sears said he agreed with the governor. "Maybe it's time for him to step down," he said. Cashman, who Sears has known professionally for more than 20 years, said the sentence reflected the fact that Hulett would not have received sex offender treatment in prison. "He may have been trying to make a point," Sears said, "but he could have found much better ways to do it." The Judiciary Committee has invited representatives from the Vermont Center for Justice Research of Norwich University to make a presentation next week. Sears said that will give lawmakers a true picture of how many sex crimes are committed in Vermont, how sex offenders are sentenced and how effective the justice system has been in treating sex offenders to prevent further crimes. A look at mandatory minimums He said the committee would also be looking at mandatory minimum sentencing. On Thursday, the committee heard testimony from Bennington District Court Judge David Suntag and others on the issue. "Vermont has a history of (mandatory sentences) and the Legislature repealed or modified them, presumably because they weren't effective," Suntag said in a phone interview on Friday. "People felt they were unnecessary or too harsh in some cases and they were too easy to get around by pleading to other charges." Sears said he was hopeful that the state Supreme Court and the chief administrative judge would take a "hard look" at Cashman. However, Sears said it was important to remember that Vermont has three independent branches of government. The Legislature has no say in the Hulett case. And it will not be able to remove Cashman from the bench until he comes up for a retention hearing next year. The only way the Senate could become involved is if an impeachment order came from the House. Sears said the Judiciary Committee was told that Cashman's decision did not rise to the level of impeachment. Bennington Superior Court Judge John P. Wesley said that it would be improper for any judge to comment on a case that may still be adjudicated in a Vermont courtroom. But he said it was important for people to know that after a judge sentences a prisoner, it is largely up to the Department of Corrections to decide how long that person remains incarcerated. Sears agreed that some of the facts in the case were being distorted or lost because of the emotional nature of the case. Hulett will always be a registered sex offender and he will remain on probation for the rest of his life. "But 60 days in prison just doesn't seem appropriate," he said. Another concern for Sears is sensationalism by what he called the "right-wing news media." Sears was invited to be a guest on Bill O'Reilly's cable television show Thursday but was unavailable. Sears said he has received calls and e-mails from people who claim that Vermont is "full of pedophiles" and supports "whacko" judges. Sears noted that when it comes to violent crimes, Vermont is the third safest state in the nation. He pointed out that last year Suntag sentenced a local man to a 40-year jail term for sexually assaulting children. Bennington County Deputy State's Attorney Daniel McManus said media coverage of the Hulett case did not reflect Vermont as he sees it. "This office has been very tough on sexual offenders and traditionally the judges have been very good about imposing stiff penalties," he said. Sears said he hoped this controversy wouldn't overshadow the rest of Cashman's career on the bench. "I hope people recognize this is only one case in a long career," he said. E-mail Patrick McArdle at pmcardle@benningtonbanner.com http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_3401959

Second man charged with abusing Hulett's victim BURLINGTON, Vt. -- The young girl who was the victim in a child sex abuse case in which the perpetrator got a minimum sentence of 60 days also was abused by a second man, authorities have alleged. That revelation is the latest twist in a controversy surrounding Judge Edward Cashman's sentencing of Mark Hulett. Hulett, 34, of Williston, had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the girl from the age of 6 to when she was 10. Derek Kimball, 33, of Hinesburg, whom authorities describe as a friend of Hulett's, was arrested in October and is charged with sexual assault on a victim less than 10 years of age, and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. He was later released on $25,000 bond and a series of conditions, including that he not contact the victim or any girls under the age of 16. He could face up to life in prison if convicted. Kimball's case is not being handled by Cashman but by Judge Michael Kupersmith. Cashman sentenced Hulett on Jan. 4 to 60 days to 10 years, along with two other suspended sentences. At the sentencing hearing, the judge said state Corrections Department officials had told him that Hulett would not receive sex-offender treatment while in prison because he was deemed a low risk to re-offend. The judge said he worried that without treatment, Hulett would emerge from prison more likely to commit new crimes. He imposed a long list of stringent conditions on when and how Hulett could be released, including that he get sex-offender treatment, setting the stage for potentially a life sentence. Conservative talk-radio and cable television personalities around the country have seized on the 60-day minimum sentence in recent days. Some Vermont newspapers have called in editorials for Cashman to step down or to be removed from the bench. The media coverage has been criticized by some who have studied the case. Republican Rep. Michael Kainen, a lawyer and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee in the Vermont House, said Friday, "If it were accurately reported, I think there would have been a little less furor." That comment came two days after Human Services Secretary Michael Smith said the Corrections Department would shift gears and offer Hulett sex offender treatment while in prison. That prompted prosecutors on Friday to file court papers asking Cashman to reconsider the sentence. Court papers in Kimball's case say the girl told investigators that both Kimball and Hulett had sexually assaulted her in a number of separate incidents. Detectives met with Kimball at his job at the Chittenden Solid Waste District in South Burlington on Oct. 7, according to court papers. During the interview, Kimball acknowledged the abuse and was arrested, according to the detectives' accounts in the court affidavit. Kimball is next scheduled to appear in Vermont District Court in Burlington on Jan. 24 for a routine hearing. ___ Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com WCAX

Transcript: Cashman did not say he did not believe in punishment MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The transcript of a court hearing shows that Judge Edward Cashman never said he no longer believed in punishment, as some have suggested. Gov. James Douglas and other Cashman critics have repeatedly said Cashman's disavowal of punishment is a key reason for believing the judge should resign or be impeached. The governor, speaking at his news conference Thursday, said "I know the judge has said publicly he doesn't believe in punishment." Later the governor said, "I believe that if a criminal court judge doesn't believe in punishment than that individual really ought not to be on the bench." But the transcript released by the court Friday of the court hearing in question shows that Cashman said, "And I keep telling prosecutors, and they won't hear me, that punishment is not enough." At issue is Cashman's sentencing Jan. 4 of Mark Hulett in District Court in Burlington for sexual abuse of a young girl over a four-year period starting when the girl was 6. The judge sentenced Hulett to just 60 days of jail time and an extended sentence of strict probation because he felt it was essential that Hulett be enrolled in the state's sexual offender program, which could not happen while Hulett was in jail. The 114-page transcript of the sentencing hearing details testimony of experts for the state and defense on what would be an appropriate sentence for Hulett. The hearing included an emotional plea from the victim's aunt who said the victim will struggle with the effects of the abuse for her entire life. "Mark should spend the rest of his life in prison because that is the sentence he has given to (the victim)," she said. "(The victim) has had her innocence and freedom stolen from her by Mark and, therefore, should - he should have his freedom stolen from him." She ended her testimony by saying: "The one final thought that I want to leave people with is this: Would you want your children or grandchildren to run into Mark someday?" Cashman thanked her for her testimony, saying "That's a very powerful statement," and then detailing from past cases his feelings about how hard life will be for the victim and everyone around her. "I think everybody who loves this young girl are going to be carrying this burden," he said. "No question about it. You're carrying it, you're carrying it, everyone. I can see it in the faces in the people in the back. He has touched everybody negatively." Weaving throughout the hearing, though, was Cashman's concern for how best to ensure that Hulett received proper treatment to ensure that he not be a future threat to others. "I'm not doing this for the family," he said at one point. "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." When told by a Corrections Department official that Hulett would not receive treatment while in jail Cashman said, "So he's going to sit in jail and do nothing?" "Yes, your honor," said the state official, identified in the transcript only by his or her last name. "And that's going to help us?" asked Cashman. Another exchange came between Cashman and Ellen Squire, a victim services specialist for the Corrections Department. At one point Cashman asked Squire, "Why are you equating justice with lengthy incarceration?" Cashman said he did not want to see another case like that of Edwin Towne, who was released after completing the state's then-new sex offender program in 1986 and a short time later killed 15-year-old Paulette Crickmore of Richmond. "After 25 years of doing this ... if there's anything burned in my brain over the years, it's Ed Towne and what happened to Ed Towne with a 7-to-10 year sentence everybody felt good about, and I don't ever want to be in that spot. So if all you have offered the victims of this crime, the state, the Corrections Department, anybody else here, is retribution, you've misinformed them," said Cashman. "Our job is much harder than just retribution," he said. Cashman complained that the state was "setting up a situation here in this courtroom with these people and telling them somehow or another if he doesn't get a long term in jail, there's a failure... "This is the kind of talk that is driving our corrections costs; we're spending more on prisons than we do on schools; we're leaving with the general public the idea that the only thing that's effective is to inflict more pain. This job is much too serious to be content with a punishment sentence," Cashman said. He said a sentence of lengthy jail time with no rehabilitation was the opposite of what the Legislature wanted. "They do not want traditional sit-in-the-jail-and-do-nothing sentences," he said. In closing Cashman detailed how his philosophy has changed in the past 25 years - from someone who imposed strict punishments to someone who now tries to ensure "people are better off after the sentencing than they were before." "I feel very strongly about retribution. And why? I didn't come to that easily. It isn't something that I started at. I started out as a just desert sentencer. I liked it. Across the line? Pop Them. Well, then I discovered it accomplishes nothing of value. It doesn't make anything better." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4363043&nav=4QcS