Speaking of judges and children
Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal
"As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer.
The nonprofit Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia said Phillip is one of at least 5,000 children over the past five years who appeared before former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella.
Ciavarella pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal criminal charges of fraud and other tax charges, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Former Luzerne County Senior Judge Michael Conahan also pleaded guilty to the same charges. The two secretly received more than $2.6 million, prosecutors said."
Though it was strangely missing in the CNN story, judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are Democrats. I wonder why CNN left that part out? :rolleyes:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/23/...ges/index.html