28 years for judge who sold juveniles to a for-profit detention center

[The Straight Story]

Former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. has been sentenced to 28 years in prison on charges stemming from the Luzerne County corruption scandal. He will be taken into custody.

U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik issued the sentence after an hour-long hearing where Ciavarella defended himself against the stigma that he sold juveniles to a for-profit detention center in exchange for a share of $2.8 million in payoffs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod rejected those arguments.

"Mr. Ciavarella's argument seems to be that he was not selling kids retail," Zubrod said. "We agree with that. He was selling them wholesale."

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/ciavarella-sentenced-to-28-years-surrenders-to-u-s-marshals-1.1187352#ixzz1UjNeeQ46

[Ohio Joe]

1. Good - nt

[ensho]

2. good

nt

[ananda]

3. There is a lot of this kind of thing going on.

Some judges have a more internecine connection to the money flowing
into and out of the prison industry.

[marmar]

4. Raise your glass.......He's a worthless POS.

:toast:

[no_hypocrisy]

5. 28 years isn't enough. He sold those children to private prisons.

"Unethical"? Didn't believe his actions to be "illegal"?

[KansDem]

13. We mustn't forget the teen victimized by the judge who later committed suicide.

Then the entire wretched story rolled out. The mom was Sandy Fonzo. Her son took his own life after that man, Judge Mark Ciavarella, had sentenced Fonzo's 17-year-old son, Edward Kenzakowski, to six months in a Pennsylvania detention center for possession of drug paraphernalia.

The sentence seemed excessive to everyone because, according to Kenzakowski's mother, it was his first offense. And usually in such cases, especially teenagers, it is presumed the judge will be lenient in his ruling. But Judge Ciavarella was anything but lenient. And Fonzo says her son never recovered from the ordeal and eventually took his own life.

As fate would have it, the feds in Pennsylvania became suspicious of similar rulings by Ciavarella and launched an investigation. Ciavarella was found guilty of accepting nearly $1 million in kickbacks for sending thousands of teens to a juvenile facility owned by some of his friends.

--more--
http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/20/a-crooked-judge-a-sons-suicide-a-mothers-unrequited-grief/

:grr:

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

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[name not needed]

58. He's 61. Chances are he's going to die in prison.

[Name removed]

77. Deleted message

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[closeupready]

6. What about the entity that initiated the payoff?

What happened to it?

[Fantastic Anarchist]

9. I also want to know what happened to the sentences of the kids he sold.

Were those sentences carried out?

[Fuddnik]

48. They were, but the PA Supreme Court threw out thousands of convictions.

But, they'd already served their time.


I hope he rots.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

51. Thank you. n/t

[jeff47]

49. The state supreme court vacated them. (nt)

[RedCloud]

97. maybe too big to fail (go to jail?) ?

[Fantastic Anarchist]

7. Not enough time, in my opinion.

How many kid's lives did fuck up? He should get life.

[woo me with science]

8. For-profit detention centers, schools, and charities.

This is our future if we continue to tolerate the control of our government by corporate thieves.

K&R

[BackToThe60s]

47. You got it!

Wish I could rec a reply! :-)

[Raschel]

10. I'm surprised he got this much time. Good riddance.

[FreakinDJ]

11. FUCKING EXCELLENT

Poor Kid committed suicide because of what that judge did

[Dawson Leery]

12. A life sentence would be fair.

[NJCher]

59. 61 + 28 = 89

Effectively life.

But I wonder if there will be time off for "good behavior."


Cher

[Reader Rabbit]

96. When would he be eligible for parole?

Hopefully, it's not after just a few years. This man needs to suffer. I hope the victims and their families sue him and the detention center for every penny they've got, on top of the prison sentence.

[get the red out]

14. Horrific

What was done to those kids was something out of the playbook of a totalitarian regime. "For Profit", when are those words ever for the good of the people that are placed in their custody?

[Demeter]

15. Justice! And It Didn't Take 60 Years!

Somebody must have slipped up, somewhere....

[PassingFair]

88. That;'s how this story makes me feel, too.

Pinch me....I must be dreaming.

[Fleshdancer]

16. Kudos to everyone involved in bringing this a$$hole DOWN.

I'm late to this story so I wasn't aware of the kids for cash scandal. Here's a wiki link for anyone else who hasn't heard about this insanity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal

I imagine life is going to be pretty rough for a judge in prison. Can't say I feel even an ounce of sympathy for this sick bastard.

[ooglymoogly]

64. Like in the case of Geoffry Daumer

Prison may just serve up its own justice. This "man" is scum. 100 to 1 odds he is a thuglican pugthug. one of the ones who occasionally and ever so rarely get caught or even more rarely gets prosecuted.

[tk2kewl]

17. should've gotten one life sentence per kid

:grr:

[izquierdista]

18. I wonder how much he could be sold for

You hear about these "spare parts" operations in China or some third world blackwater......

[Mnemosyne]

22. We had a healthy prisoner die unexpectedly when Govenor Casey needed a heart/lung transplant. n/t

[I Have A Dream]

62. Really? Wow.

:(

[Mnemosyne]

101. 1993, Casey - PA, within 10 hrs of being put on the waiting list.

http://www.organselling.com/thecase.htm

I cannot find a link about him receiving the transplants from a prisoner, but do distinctly remember it from then. I was living in AL and even people there were saying, "Huh, wha?". All I can find are claims organs were from "gang member violence". :crazy:

[Marrah_G]

19. I hope he dies in jail

I know that sounds mean, but he destroyed lives and caused deaths. He should never be free again.

[Pacifist Patriot]

31. He's 61. If he's made to serve the full sentence, there's a good chance of that.

[FSogol]

20. He'll be just about 90 when he gets out. n/t

[Merlot]

73. Maybe he'll get out at 90, and have no money left to his name

and have to be at the mercy of the street. I think that would be a more fitting end than dying in prison.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madinmaryland]

23. Good!

[truebrit71]

24. Not long enough...fucking scumbag...

All of those young lives irreparably damaged becuase of his greed....:grr:

[malaise]

25. Good

Time to shut down the private prisons - the new slave camps

[Libby2]

26. Not nearly enough time in my opinion. n/t

[Drale]

27. Wasn't that a story line on the Good Wife? /nt

[Uncle Joe]

28. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, The Straight Story.:thumbsup:

[fishwax]

29. Good -- what he did was despicable.

If he serves the whole term he'll be 89 when it's over.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Proles]

32. Proof that there are things that should never

be done for profit, like prisons.

And I heard that Florida's governor considered making prisons for profit.

[Scurrilous]

33. Good.

:thumbsup:

[Marr]

34. That's the most refreshing story I've read in ages.

[Hart2008]

35. Scumbag PA Repuke Judge! NT

[mopinko]

36. hopefully civil suits are on the way.

the people who wrote the checks for these kids need their bank accounts drained and then some.

[LeftishBrit]

37. And this is what is creeping in here in Britain. See George Monbiot's article from 2 years ago...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/03/prison-population-titan-jails

[Octafish]

38. The former judge got off easy.

As a serial child abuser for profit, he should be put away for life.

[Gin]

39. the best way to get him after jail is suing him...money is his

god of choice...so...ruin that POS financially...let him be a felon who is flat broke when he gets out of jail.

also sue the prison owners..

[Octafish]

50. Great ideas, Gin!

I'd add prosecutors also go after the prison lobbyists and every politician they ever bought, as well. They all are traitors.

[Zookeeper]

40. It should have been life without parole, but I'll settle for 28 years.

This kind of corruption will be the standard as essential services become privatized.

[Enthusiast]

41. Justice finally!

I love true justice. Now, there are only several million more instances of Justice needed.

[SnowCritter]

42. There are some things that are better left to

the government. Detention facilities fall into that category.

[SlimJimmy]

43. There's an a**hole that can go straight to Hell as far as I'm concerned. (nt)

[fascisthunter]

44. evil bastahd!

good

[BackToThe60s]

45. 100 Recs

[RaleighNCDUer]

52. One year for every $100,000 payoff.

Seems reasonable to me.

[Hubert Flottz]

53. I'm betting he will go to a country club federal pen.

And be out in two or three years.

[joeybee12]

54. Not enough...hopefully he spends the rest of his sorry life there...knr

[WillyT]

55. GOOD !!! - Couldn't Have Happened To A More Deserving Guy - K & R !!!

http://citizensvoice.com/polopoly_fs/1.1187109.1313022193!/image/339726244.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/339726244.jpg



http://m.citizensvoice.com/polopoly_fs/1.1107334!/image/459918090.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_390/459918090.jpg

:kick:

[Firebrand Gary]

56. Capitalism: A Love Story...That's the Judge that we are talking about right?

YES! I hope that mother fucker rots in there.

[closeupready]

61. I believe so.

nt

[Merlot]

72. That was the part of the movie that really got to me

those kids locked up - broke my heart. SOOO glad to hear this has happened.

Now, some justice for the kids. judge has gota have a lot of that money stashed away. I say he gets sued on behalf of each child whose life he ruined.

[Rhiannon12866]

82. I knew that I was familiar with this story from somewhere, thanks for clearing that up...

It made me very angry, too... Good riddance! :grr: :hi:

[Ricochet21]

57. Good nt

[onethatcares]

60. he better be in prison while his appeal wends its way throught the system

none of this "he died and we had him immediately cremated" bullshit that Ken Lay got away with.

[Nothing Without Hope]

63. Good! And how about the slimes he sold the kids to?

Are they in custody too? Or are they too rich and well connected?

[Citizen Worker]

65. I hope the juveniles who were falsely imprisoned sue the state and win BIG!

[tpsbmam]

66. I have to think that his time in prison is gonna suck.....

and his life may be shortened with prison justice. Fellow prisoners are NOT going to take kindly to a kids-for-cash judge. Unless they're going to keep him in solitary for the extent of his term served, he's in big time danger.

[krispos42]

67. Scum. Just scum.

Child abuse for personal profit.

[ThoughtCriminal]

68. Slam dunk argument against "for profit" private prisons

Can't happen? Proof that it does.

Think it wouldn't happen in your state? If you have private prisons it probably has.

[Initech]

69. Excellent! One of the real criminals of society gone.

[Pakid]

70. This is why

for profit prison,school,etc should never be!

[saorsa]

71. Everyone who stood by and said nothing deserves to join him. Not just his

fellow conspirators, the other judge, the real estate devoloper and the other for-profit prison owner scum, or the Juvenile probation dept. official, but all the good people who watched it all go down, month after month and just let it happen.

[Marie Marie]

74. Hope he "drops the soap" - often!!

[muntrv]

75. Put him in general population! And go after the owner of the private prison too!

[mod mom]

92. + 1

[grahamhgreen]

76. Now, lets go after those that bribed him!

[defendandprotect]

78. Considering pot smokers can get 25 years .... this should be 50!!

[orbitalman]

79. K & R

[Odin2005]

80. All juvenile boot camps should be shut down.

[toymachines]

81. evil little shit

this is one of the crimes that should carry life in prison. I am not a big fan of imprisoning people, it's almost a throw them away for life or don't put them in prison at all situation for me. And this is surely a lock him away situation

[W T F]

83. I hope they lock him up with the sodomites.

:evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[ecdab]

84. Be sure that he isn't the only judge selling verdicts

[Jefferson23]

85. Enjoy your stay Ciavarella, and hopefully there will be compensation for the kids

from his wallet. ..bastard.

[Ilsa]

86. I hope he has to pay all the money back in fines, and I hope the kids sue him. nt

[Uben]

87. He'll die in prison...

..prisoners don't like crimes against youth. HE'll get shanked, and he deserves it.

[perdita9]

89. Capitalism Run Amok

That's what this is. Tea Baggers should take a good look at what happens when all you care about is profit and not people.

[spicegal]

90. This kind of corruption is the potential outcome of a

privatized justice system. If this is the way this country chooses to go, we'll have more of this to look forward to. When profit is involved, greed becomes the ultimate motivator, and those entrusted with power will be too tempted.

[otohara]

91. Great Quote by US Attorney

WTG Mr. Zubrod

[valerief]

93. I'm sure he'll get off scott free in the appeal. Mustn't blacken the rep of juvenile prisons. nt

[DirkGently]

94. What could possibly go wrong with a private prison system? Oh ...

[mimitabby]

95. nice to see a little justice every now and then

[grahamhgreen]

98. Shouldn't he face charges fore human trafficking?

[LiberalFighter]

99. His defense was that he wasn't selling them retail? Should that even matter?

Selling is selling.

[LiberalFighter]

100. I hope he loses his pension and those running the private prision is prosecuted.