Pa. Judge Gets 28 Years In 'kids For Cash' Case

[+EdwardGlen]

A prime example of what happens when jails are privatized. empty cells mean no profits.

 

 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COURTHOUSE_KICKBACKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -- A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge was ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions.

 

Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in federal prison for taking $1 million in bribes from the builder of a pair of juvenile detention centers in a case that became known as "kids for cash."

 

Ciaverella was motionless when the decision was announced and had no reaction. From behind him, where family members of some of the children he sentenced sat, someone cried out "Woo hoo!"

 

In the wake of the scandal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

 

Ciavarella, 61, was tried and convicted of racketeering charges earlier this year. His attorneys had asked for a "reasonable" sentence in court papers, saying, in effect, that he's already been punished enough.

 

"The media attention to this matter has exceeded coverage given to many and almost all capital murders, and despite protestation, he will forever be unjustly branded as the `Kids for Cash' judge," their sentencing memo said.

 

Al Fora, Ciaverella's lawyer called the sentence harsher than expected. Ciaverella surrendered immediately but it was not immediately known where he would serve his sentence.

 

Ciaverella, speaking before the sentence was handed down, apologized to the community and to those juveniles that appeared before him in his court.

 

"I blame no one but myself for what happened," he said, and then denied he had ever incarcerated any juveniles in exchange for money.

 

He also criticized U.S. Assistant Attorney Gordon Zubrod for referring to the case as "kids for cash," and said it sank his reputation.

 

"He backdoored me, and I never saw it coming. Those three words made me the personification of evil," Ciaverella said. "They made me toxic and caused a public uproar the likes of which this community has never seen."

 

Federal prosecutors accused Ciavarella and a second judge, Michael Conahan, of taking more than $2 million in bribes from the builder of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers and extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the facilities' co-owner.

 

Ciavarella, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10, many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes.

 

The judge remained defiant after his arrest, insisting the payments were legal and denying he incarcerated youths for money.

 

The jury returned a mixed verdict following a February trial, convicting him of 12 counts, including racketeering and conspiracy, and acquitting him of 27 counts, including extortion. The guilty verdicts related to a payment of $997,600 from the builder.

 

Conahan pleaded guilty last year and awaits sentencing.

[greenbuddha]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

 

This kind of crap goes on much more than most people realize.

 

The ' incarceration / prosecution system' is one hell of a money making machine.

 

Soon we'll all have to be either 'politicians', 'LEO / military' .... OR 'criminals'.

 

For right now though, there is 'still' the category of 'white-washed, law abiding middle-class' citizen. But it's a rapidly declining group.

[Estimated Prophet]

Great to hear he will now be seeing life through the eyes of the people he falsely incarcerated. A judge should be treated really well by fellow inmates.

[jayt]

How could he have been punished enough? I know an attorney is supposed to fight for you but to have the nerve to suggest he has already suffered? 4000 convictions tossed? I wonder how many years of life those 4000 kids lost combined, that should be his sentence.

[Croppled1]

How could he have been punished enough? I know an attorney is supposed to fight for you but to have the nerve to suggest he has already suffered? 4000 convictions tossed? I wonder how many years of life those 4000 kids lost combined, that should be his sentence.

 

 

Not to mention the suicides that occurred from it . Patients for the most part can only get relief of abuse in Michigan through licensing boards which conduct peer reviews . Often one person determines whether a investigation is conducted or not and the process doesn't' even require that person divulge former ties or affiliations with the individual or institution in question .

 

The Courts here that are not allowing a medical cannabis defense with a jury trail are no better then the Judge in Pa . Neither are the Public Defenders that go along with this . The Law should allow for charges to be dismissed before trial when conditions are met , yet rarely do you here of that occuring . By not processing cards in a timely manner the State is putting the saftey of patients at risk as well as their confidentiality in situations where mail was " misplaced , delivered improperly or stolen " . A card equals a free pass to sell illegal cannabis into the dispenory system . This is why the Farmers Market system is preferable . Everything is verifyable on the spot with no records required that incriminate at the Federal level . Overhead is minimal and only patients are rewarded which since they have no employment protection seems just . People just have to remember if on SSD they can only earn a certain limit for self employment it is lower then regular wages I think $674 a month vs $1000 ( dont ask me why ) . Sadly the Federal Goverment does not recognize expenses related to the growing of cannabis due to resistance and schedule 1 classification . HR 2835 really needs passing people must write letters asking that it is passed to our State Legislators in Washington D. C. .

[nthlghts]

The future mental illness, drug addiction and violence that will result from this man, should earn him a bullet to the head! I can see this self righteous pompous piece of s..t chastising these kids in my mind.

 

How could he have been punished enough? I know an attorney is supposed to fight for you but to have the nerve to suggest he has already suffered? 4000 convictions tossed? I wonder how many years of life those 4000 kids lost combined, that should be his sentence.

[greenbuddha]

And WHERE was 'Child Protective Services' when they were REALLY needed?

 

I know where they were.; playing solataire on their computers, eating doughnuts during useless staff meetings and watching the clock waiting for five PM to roll around.

 

But everone was getting paid, so what was there to worry about?