Mom to judge, "Rot in Hell"

Shadow Dragon · Feb 21, 2011

A Pennsylvania judge recently convicted for putting juveniles into "for profit" detention centers is being sued, a civil rights attorney said Monday.

The class-action civil lawsuit was originally filed in 2009. It names several defendents, including Mark Ciavarella, whose alleged illegal actions date back to 2003, on and off the bench.

The former Luzerne County judge was found guilty Friday of 12 of 39 racketeering and fraud charges for accepting millions of dollars in bribes from friends who owned detention centers to which he sent juveniles.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/21/pennsylvania.judge.lawsuits/

Here's the video of the mother being interviewed:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/02/20/nr.lemon.mom.judge.cnn?hpt=T2

I hope the people involved in this fraud lose every single penny they have from the lawsuit. And it's a shame there's no way to keep Ciavarella alive for the entire hundred some years that his sentence will be. Any politician who sends people or teens to prison for money needs to be made an example out of. And the same goes for the men who bribed the judges.

PinkAmy · Feb 21, 2011

I'm about an hour away where all this happened. At first I couldn't believe it because the accusations sounded like an episode of Law and Order. Unfuckingbelievable the arrogance of that judge. Unfortunately, he'll probably end up in ClubFed, which is a much easier ride than state prison.

Vince524 · Feb 21, 2011

PinkAmy said:
I'm about an hour away where all this happened. At first I couldn't believe it because the accusations sounded like an episode of Law and Order. Unfuckingbelievable the arrogance of that judge. Unfortunately, he'll probably end up in ClubFed, which is a much easier ride than state prison.

It was an episode of Law & Order SVU. Wouldn't be surprised if this is where they got it from.

Tiger · Feb 22, 2011

Vince524 said:
It was an episode of Law & Order SVU. Wouldn't be surprised if this is where they got it from.

I think it was also an episode of "The Good Wife."

Rufus Coppertop · Feb 22, 2011

How can a judge prohibit defendants from having legal representation?

Alpha Echo · Feb 23, 2011

Wow. That's horrible. I definitely want to keep an eye on this in hopes those asshats get what's coming to them. How can someone call themselves a Judge, promise to uphold the law and justice, and do something like this? And LIVE with themselves?

julie thorpe · Feb 23, 2011

Let me get this straight now, because it almost defies belief: in your country you actually have facilities to lock kids up which are profit-making ventures?

That being the case, why is anyone surprised that it is open to corruption?

Sick. Sick, sick, sick.

Long live the almighty dollar...

Don · Feb 23, 2011

Ah, yes... crony capitalism colludes with a monopoly in juvenile justice. What could possibly go wrong?

This didn't just spring out of nowhere, either.

Years before this arrangement came to light in January 2009, it should have been clear something was amiss in Ciavarella's courtroom. In 2004 the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reported that the share of juvenile offenders given out-of-home "placements"—21 percent under Ciavarella, up from 4.5 percent under his predecessor—was higher in Luzerne County than anywhere else in the state.

The article noted the "skyrocketing costs" associated with Ciavarella's harshness and suggested that local schools had become too dependent on his court to handle discipline problems. But it also cited a dramatic reduction in juvenile recidivism. "It looks like it works," a defense attorney told the paper, while Ciavarella insisted, "I'm in the business of trying to help these kids." He was elected to a second 10-year term the following year.

So there was a 5-time increase in "placements," but nobody blew a whistle? That "dramatic reduction in juvenile recidivism" made it all worthwhile, I guess.

More in the linked article about travesty after travesty, all shrugged off over the years as "isolated incidents." Then comes the damning summary.

Superior Court Judge John Cleland, who headed the state panel that investigated Luzerne County's juvenile justice scandal, was dismayed by the "inaction" of "those who knew but failed to speak." Judging from the pre-scandal praise for Ciavarella's effectiveness, part of the blame for this silence lies with a "scared straight" mentality that sacrifices law for the illusion of order.

Shadow Dragon · Feb 23, 2011

julie thorpe said:
Let me get this straight now, because it almost defies belief: in your country you actually have facilities to lock kids up which are profit-making ventures?

That being the case, why is anyone surprised that it is open to corruption?

Sick. Sick, sick, sick.

Long live the almighty dollar...

Yeah, even for someone that has lived in the US all their lives, it's pretty screwed up. There are major corruption problems across all branches of the government. I fear this story is only the tip of the iceberg.

icerose · Feb 23, 2011

From Don's link.

part of the blame for this silence lies with a "scared straight" mentality that sacrifices law for the illusion of order.

This is what got me and it's what gets me about TSA and a lot of other things like Homeland security. I believe as a country we have bought into the illusion of safety just like these guys bought into the illusion of order. In my community we have an illusion of low crime as well because they only enforce the laws occasionally and look the other way when statistic time is coming around. They don't want those crimes on the books so they gather in threes and fours in a parking lot and spend most of the day talking to each other rather than actually doing anything.

jmarkbyrnes · Feb 23, 2011

julie thorpe said:
Let me get this straight now, because it almost defies belief: in your country you actually have facilities to lock kids up which are profit-making ventures?

That being the case, why is anyone surprised that it is open to corruption?

Sick. Sick, sick, sick.

Long live the almighty dollar...

Apparently, the idea has been considered by the German government as well. Sadly, no government is above this kind of behavior.

-papaholmz

julie thorpe · Feb 23, 2011

Well, I am not German, so I can't comment on that specifically. What I can say is that if my home country ever allowed this I would go home specifically in order to vote against it

backslashbaby · Feb 23, 2011

This story -- all those poor kids' stories! -- makes me absolutely sick.

It's horrible that nobody exposed the connection before. I wonder what the mechanism would be for that, btw? Maybe that's where the Fail starts. We need much more real transparency in gov't.

But what really gets me is how insane some of the punishments were, and folks just sit back and let it happen to other folks' kids. I swear, with cops, judges, and schools, we tend to sit back and say that they must have their reasons. Yeah, great reasons here, eh?

It just makes me so mad!

Mom to judge, "Rot in Hell"

Shadow Dragon

PinkAmy

New kid, be gentle!

Vince524

Are you gonna finish that bacon?

Tiger

AKA: "Gums of Steel"

Rufus Coppertop

Alpha Echo

I should be writing.

julie thorpe

Don

All Living is Local

Shadow Dragon

icerose

Lost in School Work

jmarkbyrnes

Nobody and Nothin'

julie thorpe

backslashbaby

*

Mom to judge, "Rot in Hell"

New kid, be gentle!

Are you gonna finish that bacon?

AKA: "Gums of Steel"

I should be writing.

All Living is Local

Lost in School Work

Nobody and Nothin'

~~~~*~~~~

*