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Kids for cash

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The Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2009

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20090128_Editorial__Judges_Sentenced.html

Editorial: Judges Sentenced

Kids for cash

The setting is Pennsylvania coal country, but it's a story right out of
Dickens' grim 19th-century landscape: Two of Luzerne County's most senior
judges on Monday were accused of sending children to jail in return for
kickbacks.

The judges, Luzerne County President Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 58,
and his predecessor, Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, 56, will serve
seven years in jail under a plea agreement.

They're alleged to have pocketed $2.6 million in payments from juvenile
detention center operators. When a federal judge reviews their plea,
though, the question ought to be whether the punishment is adequate -
along with the judges being bounced from the bench, disbarred, and losing
their pensions.

If the allegations are true, Ciavarella and Conahan were involved in a
disgraceful cabal far worse than one that merely lined their pockets.
First, the judges helped the detention centers land a county contract
worth $58 million. Then their alleged scheme was to guarantee the
operators a steady income by detaining juveniles, often on petty
stuff.

Many of the kids were railroaded, according to allegations lodged with
the state Supreme Court last year by the Philadelphia-based Juvenile
Law Center, an advocacy group.

In asking the court to intervene in April, the law center cited
hundreds of examples where teens accused of minor mischief were
pressured to waive their right to lawyers, and then shipped to a
detention center.

One teen was given a 90-day sentence for having parodied a school
administrator online. Such unwarranted detentions left "both children
and parents feeling bewildered, violated and traumatized," center
lawyers said.

"Very few people would stand up" to the Luzerne judges, according to the
law center's executive director, Robert G. Schwartz.

Fortunately, Juvenile Law Center was willing to do so, along with
backing from state Attorney General Tom Corbett's office and the
state Department of Public Welfare.

The blind justices on the state's high court, though, took a pass. Only
last month, they offered no explanation in declining to take up the
law center's request that the court step up.

Now, the state Supreme Court should revisit the issue, since the
scope of corruption alleged at the Luzerne County Courthouse in
Wilkes-Barre could further undermine confidence in the courts
statewide.

Authorities need to redress running roughshod over juveniles' rights -
a process also likely to bring damage suits. While the local district
attorney pledges to "do our best to right the situation," this calls
for an independent, outside review.

The two judges' downfall may have rooted out the worst perpetrators
of this evil scheme, but the abuse of power alleged in Luzerne County
is so startling that it should send shock waves for reform around
the state court system.

The mind boggles. No wonder they call it the "Just Us" system.

These fuckers railroad /hundreds/ of kids, but get a relative slap on the
wrist--7 years (doubtless in Club Fed) and lose their judges' pensions.

One wonders how these kids were treated when they arrived at these
'detention' centres?  Strip-searched, perhaps? I'm sure they'll have to
keep these guys in protective custody also, otherwise they might not make
it out alive.

Baal <Baal@Usenet.org>
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PGP Key Fingerprint: 40E4 E9BB D084 22D5 3DE9  66B8 08E3 638C 1E92 C0E8
Retired Lecturer, Encryption and Data Security, Pedo U, Usenet Campus
- --

"Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?"  --  "Who will watch the
Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 AD

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