Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: April 2, 2006
JUDGE CASHMAN AND GOVERNOR STONEFELLOW
Gary W. Summers
[NOTE: This is a continuation of last week’s article.]
Others’ Comments
Surprisingly, many in the state of Vermont have been quick to defend Judge
Cashman. One defense was to cite his past record. In a similar case more than
a decade ago, he sentenced a man to a minimum of seven years in jail and asked
everyone present to stand and honor the two victims. An old expression serves
as a reply to this argument: “That was then; this is now.” In Ezekiel 33:18 we
learn that a lifetime of righteousness will not prevail in the Day of Judgment if
the individual turns to wickedness in his latter years.
Related to this argument is the one that cautions people, before they consider
removing the judge, to consider his entire judicial career. Funny, does anyone
recall that argument being used in favor of Nixon? Whoever said, “Let’s not
judge his presidency (or his entire political career) by a useless and foolish break-
in at the Watergate Hotel”? The disillusioning thing (more than the bungled
burglary) was the cover-up, his breaking of faith with the American people. One
well-known, public transgression has ended many a career. This defense of
Cashman will not stand.
Someone commented that this was the judge’s only “misstep.” Well, there is an
understatement, and it is as offensive as saying the same thing of Judas. The
judge betrayed both the victim and our justice system. Misstep does not quite
cover it. How about blunder or disaster?
Another commented that he is the judge who is “really concerned about doing
the right thing.” No kidding? How grateful, then, we should all be that he is not
callous and unsympathetic — or perhaps he would have sentenced the girl
instead.
Most of the Vermont newspapers have defended the judge — one editorial said
that the man who committed the crime only has an IQ of 80 and still does not
understand that what he did was wrong. Others in this IQ range are not guilty of
such grossly immoral acts. How can anyone not know that such a thing would be
wrong? This defense probably goes far beyond the original Governor Stonefellow
philosophy.
Cashman himself said at the sentencing: “The one message I want to get
through is that anger doesn’t solve anything. It just corrodes your soul.”
Apparently, he thinks America should just hand out “kindlier, gentler”
sentences. Cashman’s sentence has corroded the souls of most Americans who
have been outraged since they first heard of it. Of course, many have not heart
it from ABC, CBS, and NBC, or The New York Times, who have ignored the story
entirely. Fox News (arguably, the best network in television there is) is the only
one that has called national attention to the story. Bill O’Reilly has called for
those in Vermont and across the nation to put pressure on the powers that be in
the state to do something to rectify this awful situation.
Righteous anger is not forbidden in the Scriptures. Unrighteous anger results in
people harming themselves physically (high blood pressure, for instance) and
frequently others, also. It expresses itself in destructive ways. Righteous anger
motivates a person to manifest one’s emotional energy in constructive ways. In
this instance, some are calling for the judge’s removal, which would prohibit
another horrendous sentence from him in a similar case.
Another positive result is that many have redoubled their efforts to pass Jessica’
s Law in Vermont. Anger is not always bad, nor does it need to corrode the soul.
The wrath of God has been dispensed more than once, and the Almighty remains
uncorroded.
This Past Week
(The Week of Jan. 22, 2006)
On Tuesday, Bill O’Reilly introduced an additional piece of information
concerning Judge Cashman. In his Talking Points Memo, he said:
This man, Harlan Sylvester, is a major force behind the scenes in Vermont politics. He
is even chairman of the governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. He’s also Judge
Cashman’s brother-in-law. So one of Vermont’s most influential citizens is related to
the judge.
Is that, perhaps, the reason that most of the newspapers in Vermont have been
defending the judge and the reason that some have been attacking O’Reilly? It
always seems that those who call attention to something that needs to be fixed
end up getting the blame for the problem. On Wednesday evening, O’Reilly
asked some really good questions.
There is no question the little girl’s human rights have been violated by that sentence,
even as she was violated by Hulett. So where is Human Rights Watch on this? Where
is the ACLU, the National Organization for Women, the liberal media?
Where indeed? O’Reilly then said that the judge had a chance to right his initial
wrong. He had been asked, through legal channels, to reconsider the sentence.
The prosecution wanted a minimum of eight years. The decision would be given
on Thursday. To his credit, the judge did reconsider the sentence, and he
adjusted it. The new sentence is 3-10 years. Judge Cashman did not comment
on the revised penalty, and he apparently rendered it begrudgingly. It is a
comfort to know that the guilty party will be out of circulation for three years
rather than 60 days, but the penalty still does not match the crime.
This nation cannot afford to allow children to go unprotected. Children represent
the last bastion of innocence in a society that accepts homosexual cowboy
movies and men and women who want sex-change operations. People will
seldom protest any perverted behavior any more. Homosexuals cavort
lasciviously in their annual parades and flaunt their sexuality in the faces of
others. Apparently, some think it is time for child molesters to gain acceptance
in society as well.
Those who misguidedly subscribe to the Governor Stonefellow/Judge Cashman
philosophy of life think that criminals have merely had bad breaks. We just need
to rehabilitate them, and they will become productive citizens once again.
Right! And all the people who have bought swampland over the years will soon
make spectacular profits from the sale of the worthless land. Lawmakers, police,
and the courts need to work together to keep these undesirable degenerates off
the streets and away from those they might victimize. So self-evident is this
point that it should not even need to be stated.
via SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVES, Weekly Bulletin of the South Seminole
Church of Christ, Jan., 29, 2006, Winter Park, FL