Top News of the Week #3

General News - U.S. judges admit to jailing children for money

The year 2009 will probably be remembered informally as the "Year of the Busts": even two US judges have been caught profiting from extensive juvenile imprisonments.

In Philadelphia, P.A. an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 adolescents, too young to be tried in adult court, have been sent to sister juvenile detention centers with harsh sentences for minor law infractions. Some crimes were as trivial as schoolyard fighting and as serious as shoplifting, yet they all were punished severely. Few if any of the minors consulted with attorneys beforehand because the probation department suggested their crimes were too insignificant to need legal representation.

Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan were paid over 2.6 million dollars between 2003 and 2006 for sending troubled children to PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare. Both illegal incomes were hidden by falsified records and money laundering. Meanwhile, the PA juvenile detention centers profited by receiving additional government funds for each child detained at the facilities.

Both judges were removed from their positions and criminally charged. Marsha Levick, chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center, stated the center is also seeking financial compensation for victims by suing both the judges and detention centers.

After the judges are sentenced lightly and financial retribution quietly paid to the families of the children, what of the juveniles who are now approaching adulthood? They have been victimized by the legal system; have extensive incarceration records and painful experiences that could prevent them from attending college or becoming gainfully employed. A bad start in life and distrust for authority will forever haunt them. It is very likely most will return to the only life they know: prison.

News Values:

Timeliness: Federal investigation into illegal and abusive activities by businesses is at all time high-now even the legal system has been caught abusing the taxpayer's dime.

Proximity: This case could have happened in any large US city where the law is allegedly respected and used fairly in all criminal and civil cases.

Prominence: Judges are selected by the public from a pool of qualified, fair and law-abiding attorneys: they are expected to be the more upstanding citizens in every community.

Impact: All citizens now know that they too could become victims of a dirty legal system that is not supposed to exist in America.