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emazur
10-30-2009, 08:01 PM
http://post-gazette.com/pg/09303/1009500-100.stm

"This is exactly the relief these kids needed," said Marsha Levick, the center's legal director. "It's the most serious judicial corruption scandal in our history and the court took an extraordinary step in addressing it."


Children routinely appeared in front of Mr. Ciavarella without lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Mr. Ciavarella also failed to question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," the Supreme Court said.

After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was paying bribes to the judge. Federal prosecutors have said that Mr. Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, took a total of $2.8 million in payoffs.

"Ciavarella's admission that he received these payments, and that he failed to disclose his financial interests arising from the development of the juvenile facilities, thoroughly undermines the integrity of all juvenile proceedings before Ciavarella," the Supreme Court said.


It's good that this has been discovered and being overturned, but the bad thing is that this involved private prisons, so some people will say "See! You can't privatize the prison industry b/c the owners will have incentive to see innocents sent to jail" What would you say to such people?

Epic
10-30-2009, 08:05 PM
in the current political framework, prisons are never "privatized"

this is because a true privatization would entail the prison being totally separated from government - not getting funded by government (this only happens theoretically in something like an anarcho-capitalist framework).

In reality, "private" prisons are just "contracted" prisons.

pcosmar
10-30-2009, 08:06 PM
http://post-gazette.com/pg/09303/1009500-100.stm



It's good that this has been discovered and being overturned, but the bad thing is that this involved private prisons, so some people will say "See! You can't privatize the prison industry b/c the owners will have incentive to see innocents sent to jail" What would you say to such people?
The profit motive has to be completely eliminated from corrections. It has no place there.
Prisons Should cost society dearly, and be used as little as absolutely necessary.
When you introduce a profit motive there is incentive for all kinds of corruption.
It happens ever time.

Dieseler
10-30-2009, 08:06 PM
http://post-gazette.com/pg/09303/1009500-100.stm



It's good that this has been discovered and being overturned, but the bad thing is that this involved private prisons, so some people will say "See! You can't privatize the prison industry b/c the owners will have incentive to see innocents sent to jail" What would you say to such people?

They're right.

constituent
10-30-2009, 08:23 PM
Prisons Should cost society dearly

Amen, and they do in more ways than one.

emazur
10-30-2009, 09:07 PM
Alright then: contracted prisons vs. government run prisons - which is better? Didn't Gary Johnson privatize AZ prisons? How'd that work out?

And although there is a profit incentive for a judge to send a criminal to a private prison via kickbacks from the prison owner, have there been cases where judges have had profit incentives to send a prisoner to a govt. run prison - for example, the warden receives more govt. funding to handle the increased load, but one way or another pockets the surplus and shares it with the judge?

Carole
10-30-2009, 09:26 PM
Profit motive indeed. Wackyhut or whoever runs these prisons now get paid by the prisoner.

Gotta keep those prisons full...........over-crowded even.

This in itself is a crime on top of these corrupt judges. Wonder how much of this is really going on across the country!!! Very sad.:(:(

LibForestPaul
10-30-2009, 10:18 PM
Government run prisons are better...

There are different laws for government contractors than government employees. And every law that I have heard, is that when the government bureaucrat is prevented by law to engage in an activity, a government contractor is hired.

Naraku
10-31-2009, 09:27 PM
Something like this was the subject of a Law & Order episode.

Danke
11-06-2009, 10:00 PM
On the bright side, the only Americans getting their daily recommend amount of exercise are prisoners.

ghengis86
11-06-2009, 10:06 PM
Alright then: contracted prisons vs. government run prisons - which is better? Didn't Gary Johnson privatize AZ prisons? How'd that work out?

And although there is a profit incentive for a judge to send a criminal to a private prison via kickbacks from the prison owner, have there been cases where judges have had profit incentives to send a prisoner to a govt. run prison - for example, the warden receives more govt. funding to handle the increased load, but one way or another pockets the surplus and shares it with the judge?

they get re-elected b/c they are 'tough on criminals' or a lifetime appointment to a federal position...is that not incentive enough?

Icymudpuppy
11-07-2009, 06:04 PM
On the bright side, the only Americans getting their daily recommend amount of exercise are prisoners.

you've apparently never been a farmer, a rancher, a home service worker, a miner, or any other physically demanding job.