Judges got millions in kickbacks for sending juveniles to prisons

Parent Cafe
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<p>“WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses.</p>

<p>The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench.</p>

<p>In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers.I’ve never encountered, and I don’t think that we will in our lifetimes, a case where literally thousands of kids’ lives were just tossed aside in order for a couple of judges to make some money,” said Marsha Levick, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which is representing hundreds of youths sentenced in Wilkes-Barre.</p>

<p>Prosecutors say Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shortly afterward.
[Pa</a>. judges accused of jailing kids for cash - Crime & courts- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29142654/]Pa”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29142654/)</p>

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<p>This is just disgusting. I hope they throw these corrupt, selfish *******s in the clink and throw away the keys!</p>

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<p>menloparkmom you are too kind. I think each of those “sentenced” kids should be given a stone …</p>

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<p>^^^ Oooo! GOOD idea!</p>

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<p>But, wait, there’s more. The corrupt youth detention center that paid the bribes is owned by George Zappata. a son of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Zappala, Sr., and brother of Allegheny County District Attorney Democrat Stephen Zappala Jr. </p>

<p>This appears to be a pervasive Democratic Party corruption scandal.</p>

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<p>Our so called Justice System is nothing more than a Guilty factory with a high speed conveyor belt. Lubricated by the real threat of decades in prison in exchange for guilty pleas from innocent people. I’ve seen innocent people take two years in prison rather that face the 98% conviction rate that would have them incarcerated for 15 years or more. </p>

<p>Prosecutors and police get their batting averages raised and the public thinks they are being served. </p>

<p>Avoid our criminal legal system. It’s been perverted to serve only those who make their living from it.</p>