WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Vermont Judge Edward Cashman to Retire

Vermont Judge Edward Cashman to Retire

Burlington, Vermont - September 1, 2006

The judge at the center of a controversial sex abuse case this spring has announced his retirement. Judge Edward Cashman says he will leave the bench next March after 25-years of service.

Cashman was heavily criticized for the sentence he handed down in the case of convicted child molester Mark Hulett. He's also been praised as an unusually thoughtful judge who followed the law and never bowed to outside pressures.

Cashman has presided over many serious criminal cases, but none more controversial than that of Mark Hulett, convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing an underage girl. Cashman's sentence was complex. The judge said at the time of Hulett's original sentencing in January that it would ensure that Hulett gets sex offender treatment.

The part that grabbed national attention was a 60-day minimum to serve in jail. The light sentence drew a public protest in which some participants called for the legislature to remove Cashman. But lawyers who have worked with the judge over the years praise him. Attorney Peter Langrock says Cashman has never shied away from controversy.

"He found himself in the hot seat more times than would be by chance," Attorney Peter Langrock of Middlebury said of Cashman. "And part of it is, I think, his own really sincere approach to the practice of law, and his willingness to expose himself and his thoughts to the public. He's never been afraid to say what he thinks."

Cashman later reconsidered Hulett's sentence, increasing the minimum term to serve in prison to three years-- after the judge received assurances that the corrections department would get Hulett sex offender treatment in prison. In an age in which media coverage can land judges in national controversy, those who have worked with him say Cashman never took extraneous considerations into account in handing down sentences. That makes him the kind of judge who leaves a lasting impression on the court system.

Attorney Paul Jarvis of Burlington said, "My impression is he's a real judge in the traditional sense of the word. Judging, the job of judging, has become politicized over the past ten years or so with the media. And judge Cashman was a scholar, he was an absolute gentleman. He treated everyone with respect in his court."

Cashman isn't leaving just yet. His official retirement is at the end of next March-- and he may be called upon to do temporary duty on the bench as needed after that, as retired judges commonly do.

His resignation letter cites the long hours required of judges, to read cases and write rulings. At age 63, Cashman says he's ready to slow down a bit. Also, he points to the long commutes that accompany judge duty. Vermont judges rotate from court to court every year. Starting today, Cashman has been rotated from Burlington to Newport, a good 80 mile drive each way.

Andy Potter - Channel 3 News