A Montana judge has apologized for calling a 14-year-old rape victim (who committed suicide during the two years it took her case to wend its way through the justice system) “much older than her chronological age” and “as much in control of the situation” as her rapist. The State had recommended a 20-year sentence for former 9th grade teacher Stacey Dean Rambold, now 54; instead, Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced the teacher to 30 days for violating his sex offender treatment requirements.

There was a huge national outcry, with protests outside the courthouse and calls for the judge’s resignation (including petitions on MoveOn, Change.org and similar sites with a total of more than 50,000 signatures) .

On August 28th, the judge apologized to reporters, saying of his earlier comments, “I don’t know how to pass that off. I’m saying I’m sorry and it’s not who I am.” He also read a brief statement:

We will not hold the bolo tie against him. (But we do mention it.)

I wanted to use the version of the video here, but I can’t, because it autoplays an ad, loudly, the minute the SorryWatch page loads. But in that one, which lives on local station KTVQ’s site, you can see the judge toss the paper away after he finishes reading it and give a sort of “THERE YOU GO, YOU HAPPY NOW?” face. Nice.

Anyhow: The next day, Baugh released the promised addendum explaining the sentence. You can read it here: Basically it says that even though Rambold violated his probation it wasn’t a big deal. Hanging out with kids and having a sexual relationship he didn’t tell his therapist about may TECHNICALLY be violations, but it’s not like he did anything violent. Also, though the 30-day sentence may SEEM short, “there is other relevant information that the Court has that is not released to the public.” So you see, there were REASONS. SECRET, SECRET REASONS YOU DO NOT KNOW, PUBLIC! “Foremost, among that information, is the following” (wait, we get to hear the SECRET REASONS? AWESOME!) (Also, there should not be a comma after “foremost”):

1. 32-page psych evaluation of Defendant!

2. Interview of victim by a detective in 2008!

3. Interview of victim by the Defendant’s attorney in 2008!

So you see, it’s all good.

OH WAIT NO IT ISN’T.

Neither is the apology. How is “I’m not sure just what I was attempting to say at that point, but it didn’t come out correct” an apology? You don’t know what you were attempting to say when you said that a  14-year-old girl was “older than her chronological age” and “in control of the situation” of her teacher raping her? Seems pretty clear what you were attempting to say. If “it’s not what I believe in,” well, what do you believe in? The apology doesn’t tell us. Why were your comments “demeaning to all women” and why do you owe “all our fellow citizens” an apology, if your only sin was not saying what you were trying to say, though you don’t know what that was, exactly? Also, that addendum purportedly justifying your sentencing says nothing, and it’s an insult to everyone to release something so content-free. (Well, I suppose it does tell us something about you that you say “Oh sure, he violated the terms of his sentence but it wasn’t VIOLENT.”)

Finally, the expression “it’s not who I am” is wildly offensive. We’re known by what we say and do, not by our ineffable internal essence. We live in a physical world. What we say and do is who we are. When you say misogynistic, sexist, idiotic things, you are a misogynistic, sexist idiot. The onus is on you to prove you’re not. The onus is on you to make amends. This apology does neither.

Also, do you know Nissim Yeshaya, the judge in Tel Aviv who said during a case in which a 13-year-old girl was gang-raped, “Some girls enjoy rape”? You guys should totally hang out!

PS. Did you know that the Israeli judge resigned immediately? Just FYI! As the country’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said, “The judge announced his retirement and this is the right and fitting thing to do in this serious case,” said Livni. “Only this way will the public’s faith in the justice system be restored. This wasn’t just some expression, but an invalid and twisted perception that women have fought for years that lays the blame on the rape victim. Such a statement from the mouth of judge may, even if unintentionally, give legitimacy rape to warped minds.”

She added, “Each judge should know that he is viewed, rightly, under a public moral magnifying glass and that he must behave in a manner fitting someone who is responsible for the law and justice and determines the fates of others.”

Yes.

UPDATE, 9/4/13, from the Billings Gazette: “Saying the sentence he imposed on a former Billings teacher for the rape of a student may be illegal, Yellowstone County District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh has ordered a new hearing… Baugh said in the order that the mandatory minimum sentence Rambold should have received appears to be two years, not the 30-day sentence that Baugh ordered on Aug. 26.” No apology for being wrong about the minimum sentencing requirements, by the way; Baugh blamed prosecutors, who “did not object or otherwise inform the Court on the issue of the applicable mandatory minimum.”