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By Guy Page
A Vermont judge on November 3 told a New Hampshire man pleading guilty to nine crimes that he was lucky to be in a Vermont courtroom instead of facing sterner justice his home state.
Judge Michael Kainen’s remarkable admission about Vermont’s criminal justice system was reported by Caledonian-Record editor Dana Gray in the Nov. 4 edition of the daily newspaper.
Presiding in Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury, Kainen was preparing to impose a suspended sentence on George Phelps, 42. The New Hampshire counterfeit bill passer had agreed to plead guilty to nine crimes (false pretenses, counterfeiting, unlawful trespass, aggravated disorderly conduct, criminal threatening, two retail thefts, violation of an abuse prevention order and violating a release condition, the Caledonian-Record reports) committed over four years. In exchange, Phelps would leave the courtroom a free man with a suspended sentence, probation, and with 15 other charges dismissed.
But before reading the lengthy list of no-sentence convictions and the even lengthier list of dismissed charges, Kainen told Phelps he was getting a much sweeter deal on the western side of the Connecticut River because “we keep letting you go.”
“Had you been across the river in New Hampshire, if you keep committing crime, allegedly, after you’re out on conditions of release, they can just revoke bail, even on misdemeanors,” Kainen reportedly said. “Here, we don’t have the ability to do that, and so we keep letting you go.”
Vermont’s lenient bail laws have allowed Phelps to inflict ongoing pain on the citizenry despite repeated arrests, Kainen told him.
“It’s unfortunate that you’ve racked up a number of new victims in the meantime because we kept letting you go and allowing you to go out and commit new crimes,” said Kainen.
Kainen expressed the hope that the two weeks served pre-trial might have encouraged Phelps to mend his ways.
“You do two weeks in jail, and hopefully that’s enough to send the message to you that you can’t be passing a counterfeit bill; you can’t be threatening people, and you can’t be stealing from people. If you got that message with the two weeks in jail and now you’re on probation, it all works … I’m hoping you don’t want to be in jail anymore and you’re going to straighten out and fly right. If you do, this sentence makes sense,” Kainen is quoted by the Caledonian-Record.
When told of this incident by VDC at a November 6 press conference, Gov. Phil Scott said he would be working with the Legislature to tighten Vermont’s bail laws.
In the State House, bail reform (or the lack if it) will be heavily influenced by the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Longtime chair Richard Sears (D-Bennington) died earlier this year. Sen. Nader Hashim (D-Windham), a lawyer, former state trooper, and executive director of an LGBTQ educational organization, is considered a front-runner. GOP Sen. Robert Norris, a former Franklin County sheriff, also reportedly is in the running.
Committee selections will be made by President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, and a third senator to be selected on the first day of the session. Sen. Ginny Lyons (D-Chittenden) may have the inside track.
Sen. Ruth Hardy and others have said the Vermont Constitution forbids significant bail reform. Here are the two clauses in which our state Constitution address bail:
[SECTION XXII.] [Excessive bail shall not be exacted for bailable offences; and all fines shall be moderate.]
[SECTION XXX.] And all prisoners, unless in execution, or committed for capital offences, when the proof is evident or presumption great, shall be bailable by sufficient sureties [unless for capital offences, when the proof is evident or presumption great]: nor shall excessive bail be exacted for bailable offences.
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Categories: Court
This says all you need to know about VT and it’s insane laws. You forgot to explain how easy it is to fraud welfare here too. Sick of my tax $ going to dumb stuff like this, catch and release, welfare, universal lunches, building schools, child care and ppl living off the system while living with b/f’s who makes 30+ an hour. check Southern VT leases, you’ll save taxpayers MILLIONS probably.
Better watch the new landlord law in St. Albans City. You must evict bad people from your houses or face a eight hundred dollar fine. Now, will this include all of the large goat herder housing units or just the small landlord with only one house?????
Vermont’s lax law enforcement and generous non-entitlement benefits cornucopia keeps attracting the region’s best and brightest…and those who vote for woke prosecutors and democrats/progressives in general are primarily responsible.
Wow, this judge said the quiet part out loud………
Remember, “Build it, and they will come.” Vermont built a Liberal Justice system, and you see what keeps coming to the state: all the criminal trash from our bordering states…………………………. Wake up people !!
Huh, I thought that counterfeiting and passing counterfeit currency was a Federal crime ? I guess the Feds don’t care ??
The US currency is mostly “fake” anyways
Forget bail, this guy pleaded guilty to several crimes and the judge let him off. Why didn’t the judge send him to prison instead of going on about how lucky he was regarding the bail issue?
[SECTION XXII.] [Excessive bail shall not be exacted for bailable offences; and all fines shall be moderate.]
I think “excessive” is all in the eyes of the beholder and a completely relative term. There is much room to reform the law here.
The more excessively an offender breaks the law, the greater the bail should become.
We must look at why SECTION XXII as written in the first place. I understand that, according to the Eight Amendment, bail is not supposed to be used as punishment or even to protect the public. But our laws must also must provide for public safety.
And when there are brazen serial arrestees who have zero respect for the law, there must be a way to take them off the streets immediately. Yes, they’ll have their day(s) in court, and be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and be tried for all the crimes they are charged with. But if they are arrested more than once in a week or twice in a month, they have already violated conditions of release, and there must then be sharp teeth in bail reform and our laws, or we end up with the stupidity and meaninglessness of this judge’s words and actions towards this criminal.
There is a place for mercy, but for those who are defiantly unrepentant, the greatest mercy they can receive is to experience the consequences and justice due them which the state has been charged with administering. If you foolishly disobey the law of gravity, the consequences will be swift, stern, and painful. Notwithstanding extreme luck, there is no plea bargaining or deferred sentences with the law of gravity. This should also be the case for those who habitually disobey the laws of Vermont. Bail reform for serial arrestee/offenders will help restore justice, order, and respect for the law.
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.”
Proverbs 16:6 NASB
Patrick Finnie
Wasn’t a currency issue the reason George Floyd got pinched?
Vermont should then tie the bail amount to the dollar amount of the crime. That is equitable. For example, if a shoplifter gets out the door with $500 of goods then bail should be $500. The perp set his/her own bail amount: that is what their freedom was worth to them. If they get away with $2,000, then the perp set the price on their own freedom at $2,000.
If a person (as appears to be in this case) passes counterfeit money the bail should be set at the total amount of counterfeit money passed. Allow the perps to set their own bail with the actual dollar amount of their crimes.
Stole a vehicle? The Bluebook value of that vehicle is your bail amount. That is equitable. The system is allowing the perp to choose their own bail amount.