The Luzerne County, Pennsylvania juvenile justice system will forever be known for its “Kids for Cash” scandal. As Reentry Central reported on June 4, 2012, a Pennsylvania author wrote a book describing the egregious scheme hatched by some of the (then) most respected judges and businessmen in state, and of the consequences that befell thousands of children that became ensnared in it. The article reported:
“When Luzerne County Juvenile Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella. Jr. announced that the county’s juvenile detention facility was falling apart and unsafe for habitation, citizens across Pennsylvania praised him for his concern. And, when around that same time in 2003, Michael T. Conahan, the then president judge, withdrew funds for the county juvenile facility, promising that juveniles would be sent to brand new modern facilities, those working for juvenile justice reform applauded his decision. But, what only a few insiders knew at the time was that greed, not altruism, was the motivating factor in closing the county-run facility and the building of two for-profit juvenile detention centers in Luzerne County. Or, that the two highly respected judges would find themselves behind bars for their part in a scandal that shocked the nation.
In her new book, The History of the Juvenile System and Civil Corruption in Pennsylvania, author and human rights activist Pinky Stanseski tells how Ciavarella and Conahan teamed up with Robert Mericle, the builder of the two new juvenile facilities, and attorney Robert Powell, co-owner of them, in a plot designed to make all the parties wealthy. Conahan agreed with Mericle and Powell that any convicted juvenile offender in his district would be sent to one of the newly built juvenile detention centers. Ciavarella made sure that juveniles were indeed convicted, by instituting a zero tolerance policy. First time offenders and those who committed minor crimes that ordinarily would have resulted in the charges being dismissed, or at least would not have demanded incarceration, now found themselves locked up. For their part in ruining the lives of children in what the media dubbed the “Kids for Cash,” Conahan and Ciavartella received an estimated $2.8 million.”
In 2011 Ciavartella was sentenced to 28 years in prison but immediately filed an appeal for a new trial or to be acquitted of seven of the twelve charges for which he was found guilty. In July of this year a Federal Appeals Court let the original sentence stand. Ciavartella believes the sentence is too harsh, but others believe that when one considers that the crooked judge violated the civil rights of thousands of juveniles so that he could line his pockets, 28 years is not enough.
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