Solon Economou

A call for Judge Moses to resign

Guilty of a bad joke and a new tragedy 

Superior Court Judge Richard Moses of New Bedford is guilty of both an old joke and a modern tragedy.

This photo provided by the New Bedford Police Department, shows Corey Saunders, a high-level sex offender who arrested last Wednesday charged with raping a 6-year-old boy in the public library. (New Bedford Police Dept.)We are all familiar with last week's alleged rape of a terrified 7-year-old boy in the public library in New Bedford, just a few feet from where the child's mother was working on a computer.

The accused, 26-year-old Corey Saunders, a convicted Level 3 sex offender, had just been released from prison a year ago by Judge Moses, over the strenuous objections of the district attorney and three psychologists who argued that he posed a serious threat to children and should be kept in custody indefinitely.

That is the modern tragedy.  Now the old joke.  Why did the judge release Saunders?

Years ago when I worked as a Professional Engineer, my colleagues and I would sit around at lunch and discuss all these felons who were being released by parole boards in Massachusetts. The cons easily conned and were championed by two-bit psychologists who wanted to claim a "cure" of a serial killer or pedophile on their resumes.  It mattered not whether the felons ran right out and claimed other victims.  The results of their avariciousness and stupidity were not shown on their curriculum vitae.

Today the psychologists are more aware and less gullible and are taking a more realistic attitude toward manipulative sociopaths.  The parole boards still have a long way to go.

The Bad Joke;
"My patient is cured.  Look,  he hasn't raped a little girl in seven years!"The joke?  We used to say that the sleazy psychologists would claim, "My patient is cured.  Look,  he hasn't raped a little girl in seven years!"  Of course, those were the seven years he was locked up in prison.

Well, Judge Moses has become part of the joke.  It is reported that part of the judge's reasoning in releasing Saunders was that Saunders hadn't committed any major sexual offense while he was in prison! 

This is unbelievable.  We hear more and more stories like this of judges who make horrible, nonsensical decisions that result in further tragedy.

We neither need nor can tolerate judges like these.  Unlike people in most jobs, we can't just say, "You've screwed up, pal, you're fired."  Most have been politically appointed for life, and it takes a lot of judicial gymnastics to censure or remove one.  Other judges are hesitant to take action since they themselves harbor fears of discovery of making similar decisions.

Judge Richard Moses, your action, over the objections of the DA and three psychologists, resulted in a reasonably predictable human tragedy.  Under these circumstances, a man of honor would remove himself from the bench.  While all judges may at one time or other make mistakes, in your case it was your reasoning that was both indefensible and inexcusable. 

You've become part of a bad joke.  Retire today.  I do not want anyone like you sitting on any bench anywhere--unless it's a park bench feeding pigeons.