Continued controversy over Vermont sentencing

January 14, 2006

Thanks to CrimProf, I see from this AP article that the controversy over one seemingly too lenient sentence in Vermont is enduring. As detailed in the article, Judge Edward 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.” Now “several Vermont Republican lawmakers have demanded he resign or be impeached.”

And, just today, the plot has thickened: this AP article now reports that “Former [Vermont] Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy has praised Judge Edward Cashman as a competent, caring and conservative trial judge.” And this story reports that 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.” And this story now details some ways that Judge Cashman’s sentencing has been misreported and misunderstood.