Women's rights groups say judge went too easy on Sen. Monserrate

Article here. Excerpt:

'After New York state Supreme Court Justice William M. Erlbaum announced his decision on Dec. 4 to sentence a Queens' senator to three years probation for assaulting his girlfriend, women's rights groups say they are disappointed.

They are now awaiting the decision of the Senate's committee of special inquiry's investigation of the senator, hoping he will be forced from the legislature's upper house by Democratic colleagues.

Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, was acquitted in October of felony charges which would have forced him to give up his seat in the Senate. Due to his misdemeanor conviction, he could have spent a year in prison, but received probation for assaulting his girlfriend — a move Marcia Pappas, the president of the National Organization for Women-New York state, did not agree with.

"We think it would have done him some good to sit in jail for a year to think about what he did," Pappas said, "but we hope the special Senate committee takes action and does the right thing and expels Monserrate."