Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

[G_j]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?_r=3&emc=eta1

Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it was just a joke.

Prosecutors say Judges Michael T. Conahan, and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., above, took kickbacks to send teenagers to detention centers.
Instead, the judge sentenced her to three months at a juvenile detention center on a charge of harassment.

She was handcuffed and taken away as her stunned parents stood by.

“I felt like I had been thrown into some surreal sort of nightmare,” said Hillary, 17, who was sentenced in 2007. “All I wanted to know was how this could be fair and why the judge would do such a thing.”

The answers became a bit clearer on Thursday as the judge, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., and a colleague, Michael T. Conahan, appeared in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to plead guilty to wire fraud and income tax fraud for taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care.

..more..

[frylock]

1. i hope they enjoy a miserable life in prison

[NeedleCast]

2. Not enough prison time

87 months...not enough. Judges are special cases and violations of the law, by judges, should carry the maximum penalty, all the time. These jackholes have ruined the lives of thousands of children. Executives at both the detention centers should have their heads placed on pikes outside the detention center gates. Or go to jail for a long, long time.

[indepat]

8. Hear! Hear!

The jail sentences should reflect the harm done by their malfeasance, greed, and corruption. :P

[Mist]

14. That's a bit over 7 years jail time, which seems okay only if there's NO time off for

"good behavior."

[slampoet]

15. If i kidnapped a minor i would be up for the DEATH PENALTY.

I guess If I want to get away with getting children Raped I don't need to become a priest.

I can pass the bar and buy me a judgeship.

[ixion]

3. the kids who've had their lives ruined by these people should get the money

and then some. These judges should get their asses sued off, IMO.

[Winterblues]

10. Not just the Judges but those that bribed them as well

Not only sued but they should spend Time...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. Wow. Wow. WOW.

This is why you don't privatize OR outsource anything even remotely related with law enforcement.

This story should get more traction.

[G_j]

6. yep, that's the 'prison industrial complex'

for ya

[Mist]

13. Exactly, Commie. Outsourcing brings corruption and sleaze. I guess that's why

Rethugs like it so much.

[Kaleko]

5. That's another 11 on the outrage-o-meter.

The corrupt judges of the Predator State selling our children to the highest bidders so they can break their spirit legally.

[Greyhound]

7. Privatization is a beautiful thing isn't it?

Imagine the surprise as "nobody could have predicted" that things like this are happening. I wonder if anybody in California, the largest prison industry state in the union, is looking into this kind of thing.

:kick: & R

[fasttense]

9. The "free" market at its pinnacle.

If you take all oversight and regulations off business, if you privatize government functions to these same "free" market, unregulated, con artists called businessmen, then you get this sort of thing day in and day out.

What did anyone expect? Did they really believe really rich greedy bastards would be honest and more moral then the rest of society?

Free market philosophy and neoliberal economics are just other names for a con.

[wroberts189]

11. Those who would send kids to prison ..BUSTED knr

[Fireweed247]

12. This story needs more attention

This was not the first time, just the first time someone was caught!

[slampoet]

16. They made a movie in 1989 called LOST ANGELS that talked about imprisoning kids for profit.

Yet in 20 years Nothing has been done about it.

[libodem]

17. Prisons have been turned into a regular industry

barbaric, isn't it.

[XOKCowboy]

18. K&R Justice for Hire - The American Way

Is it any wonder why we imprison more people per capita than almost any other country? Pitiful.

[TWiley]

19. the jailers like to watch the young ones bathe and take a crap.

There is no privacy in jail, especially the private ones. It is all videotaped with the exception of those little visits to the wardens office.

The privatization of jail is a bad idea on multiple levels. What could possibly go wrong with that?

[H2O Man]

20. A couple years ago,

my younger son was employed by a private youth detention center in upstate New York. He was only there a short time, before he recognized that it was a human warehouse/factory, and held little benefit for the young people there. His supervisors had an expectation that he would not only restrain youths who were out of control, but would control others by intimidation and brutality. He did not stay there long.

I showed him this article; it served to reinforce what I've told him about the ugly nature of our society's "correctional services" for youth.

[G_j]

22. I hope this case leads to some sort of large scale investigation, at least.

It's hard to have faith in a system that is money driven. The cost of a life is cheap.
It is worse than a disgrace.

[malaise]

21. The bigger question is how many other judges

are doing the same thing. They must be shaking in their boots.

I hope those two rot in jail.

[Are_grits_groceries]

23. I taught school and

we hated it when kids got sent to juvie. They were so much worse when they came back.
In addition, they had learned all sorts of "tricks." I know there had to be some type of
punishment, but it never seemed to help.
those judges need a much longer sentence.

[Tsiyu]

24. here's the story in June 08

When PA attorney Robert J Powell sold the biz to Greg Zappala.

In 2003, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for one of the facilities, Powell claimed the project "wasn't about money or politics."

Pic of him and new owner here:

http://www.timesleader.com/pittstondispatch/news/Powell_bowing_out_of_juvie__airport_firm_06-11-2008.html



And here is Powell playing the victim:

Snip:

"Robert J. Powell co-owned PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care until June. His attorney, Mark Sheppard, said his client was the victim of an extortion scheme.

“Bob Powell never solicited a nickel from these judges and really was a victim of their demands,” he said. “These judges made it very plain to Mr. Powell that he was going to be required to pay certain monies.”"

link:


http://thetruthtracker.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/corruption-in-the-judicial-system/

[DCKit]

25. What are the chances these are the only two judges taking bribes?

Just from these two for-profit prison corps. It's a huge industry - time to start the investigations.

All the things that were kept on the back burner during the maladministration and now are coming to light are only going to serve to make the Obama Administration look like a bunch of heroes. It couldn't have been planned any better than that.