While the United states Armed Forces (private mercenaries) are in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, the Philippines and west Africa defending “all freedom-loving people everywhere in the world,” the Chittenden County Superior court in the independent state of vermont hands down state v. Hulett: judge Edward J. Cashman sentences Mark Hulett to 60 days in jail for repeated sexual assaults upon a girl, over a four-year period that covered her seventh, eighth and ninth birthdays.  Cashman gives Hulett the sharply attenuated sentence over concerns that Hulett will not receive fair treatment in prison.

       [added 2/4/2024] Thanks to Matt Drudge for this entry.