Pennsylvania Judges Accepted Money to Jail Kids Longer
Written by: Kim Sawyer
And some people wonder why there is so much distrust in the criminal justice system. Here’s a story about two judges in Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences.
Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from PA Childcare and a sister company, Western PA Childcare, between 2003 and 2006. Both judges are facing up to seven years in prison.
When someone is sent to a detention center, the company running the facility receives money from the county government to defray the cost of incarceration. So as more children were sentenced to the detention center, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare received more money from the government, prosecutors said. Teenagers who came before Ciavarella in juvenile court often were sentenced to detention centers for minor offenses that would typically have been classified as misdemeanors, according to the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia nonprofit group.
The Constitution guarantees the right to legal representation in U.S. courts. But many of the juveniles appeared before Ciavarella without an attorney because they were told by the probation service that their minor offenses didn’t require one. Marsha Levick, chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center, estimated that of approximately 5,000 juveniles who came before Ciavarella from 2003 and 2006, between 1,000 and 2,000 received excessively harsh detention sentences. She said the center will sue the judges, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare for financial compensation for their victims.
“That judges would allow their greed to trump the rights of defendants is just obscene,” Levick said. The judges attempted to hide their income from the scheme by creating false records and routing payments through intermediaries, prosecutors said. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court removed Ciavarella and Conahan from their duties after federal prosecutors filed charges on January 26, 2009.
Tags: Juvenile Law Center, juveniles, legal representation in US Courts, PA Judges accepted money to jail kids longer, the constitution
February 13th, 2009 at 1:54 am
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February 13th, 2009 at 7:38 am
So long as the ex-judges get thrown in with the common prison population, get to wear a tee that reads, “Corrupt ex-Judge”, free shanks handed out to all other inmates and they hold a Stab-a-Judge and win your freedom every Friday.
Justice is served.
Richard Cattos last blog post..An old man in a ditch – Part III
February 13th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Richard, lol. But I feel you! This is one of the most unheard of things! Crime has no boundaries! How do people get this way? Is money really that big of a motivator? I guess so. I hope these children haven’t been permanently damaged by time spent in this facility. I hope they throw the judges and childcare folk under the jail and give all the organizations involved the highest fines possible!
February 13th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I deal with many young adults on a daily basis and see small criminal activities all the time. One thing I tell them is they should do what they are good at and leave things they aren’t good at alone. If someone commits a crime and gets caught, they are obviously not too good at criminal activities. I would suggest they quit immediately.
When someone is involved with an acitivity that goes against the very institute they represent, I think they should be dealt with more harshly. These judges have possibly prompted many lawsuits and case reviews. Every case they presided over may now be tainted.
They have changed the lives of their families too. Their families depend on them for the lifestyle to which they’ve been accustomed to and now that is in jeopardy. I hope their wives, if they are married, have a way to make ends meet now that the judges earning power will dissappear.
Shame.