Pennsylvania Jugde Gets 28 Years for Imprisoning Teens for Money

[Itse]

Considering the amount of people involved, I'm surprised that this isn't bigger news.

http://www.allgov.com/news/controver...ns?news=843116

Accused of perpetrating a “profound evil,” former Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for illegally accepting money from a juvenile-prison developer while he spent years incarcerating thousands of young people.

Once the case against Ciavarella surfaced, special investigative panels began reviewing cases he handled from 2003 to 2008. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that he denied about 5,000 juveniles, some as young as ten, their constitutional rights, leading to the vacating of their convictions.

Another judge, Michael T. Conahan, used his position to shut down the county-run juvenile detention center and redirect juvenile detainees to the private prisons. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.

Private prison system. What ever could go wrong with that.

EDIT:
Huffington Post article.



http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...center_de.html

A developer at the center of one of the biggest judicial scandals in U.S. history has agreed to pay more than $17 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by juveniles who were locked up in youth detention facilities built by his company.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Was this the same center that was talked about in Michael Moore's movie? Sounds eerily familiar.

[burn_this_city]

If its the same guy, one of the kids he locked up ending up killing himself after spending a couple years in jail for a hash pipe at a party.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Looked it up..............same guys.

[carom]

Wasn't there a law and order episode based on this? Yes there was (crush)

This is absolutely terrible.

[rubecube]

The joys of the free market.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by fotze

They need a kickstarter type site where people could donate money that would go to the victims that they could then use to exact revenge, whether it be against the judge or the ones he loves.

The biggest criminals however are the ones who get out of jail with money. The guys who paid these judges in the first place and who run the whole racket. Those are truly people who's reputations and lives deserve to be forever ruined.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Wow, that is sickening.
Modern day slavery alive & well

[You Need a Thneed]

What is happening to the other people involved?

[Aegypticus]

I thought this story sounded familiar. Turns out the comedy site Cracked.com wrote about him over a year ago.

5 Real Judges Who Put the Most Evil Supervillain to Shame

Judge Mark Ciavarella earned his nickname, "Mr. Zero Tolerance," because he was a firm believer in giving harsh sentences to juvenile delinquents, even if all they did was slap a friend who slapped them first or take their mom's car for a joyride. And if he made himself disgustingly (and illegally) rich while doing so, well, that was just the icing on top of a delicious cake made from the suffering of thousands of kids.