Judges Jailed Kids for Cash

Two former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania judges, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges today. The fraud charges stem from some $2.6 million in kickbacks paid by Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp.'s PA Child Care, LLC and Western PA Child Care, LLC youth detention centers to the judges from 2003 to 2006 in exchange for the judges sentencing youths to those specific centers. In many cases, lawyers were not provided to the defendants during court hearings, despite the United States Supreme Court's In re Gault decision, which mandated that all juvenile defendants must be afforded the same rights as an adult in a criminal proceeding, including the right to have an attorney present.

Not surprising, PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care are claiming to be the "victim" and claim that the judges forced them to pay the money. However, in 2002, Conahan shut down the Luzerne County-run youth detention center and helped PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care secure multi-million dollar contracts with the County. Some of these contracts paid based on the number of youths locked up. One 20-year contract worth approximately $58 million with PA Child Care was later canceled by the County.

According to this AP article, various youth-advocacy groups consistently complained about Ciavarella's and Conahan's harsh sentences (such as sentencing a kid to 3 months for creating a Myspace page making fun of an assistant principal). Apparently, during the 2002 - 2006 time period, the statewide rate of juvenile defendants sentenced to detention was 1:10, with Ciavarella, it was 1:4.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court finally got a clue and removed Ciavarella and Conahan from the bench on January 26, 2008, shortly after they were charged. Now, all of the cases adjudicated by Ciavarella and Conahan are being reviewed to see if the sentences should be overturned and the record expunged.

Until June 2008, Robert J. Powell, a Pennsylvania attorney, was a co-owner of PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care. No word yet on whether federal criminal charges will be brought against PA Child Care, Western PA Child Care, Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp., or Powell (or if he will be subject to attorney disciplinary proceedings).