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?
"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?