Here’s an AP story about two Juvenile Court judges in Pennsylvania who have been charged with accepting kickbacks for sending teens to privately-owned juvenile detention facilities:
Judges Accused of Jailing Kids for Cash
Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan, 56, and Mark Ciavarella, 58, are accused of taking payoffs from privately owned juvenile detention facilities in exchange for sending teenagers to these prisons between 2003 and 2006. They have been charged with fraud.
Children were locked up for extremely minor offenses such as writing prank notes and lampooning a school vice-principal on a website. Judge Ciavarella was especially harsh – he sentenced 25% of teenagers in his courtroom to detention centers. Statewide, the rate was only 10%.
Ciaverella wrote: “I have disgraced my judgeship. My actions have destroyed everything I worked to accomplish,” in a letter to colleagues.
The judges are expected to plead guilty and be sentenced to prison.
