Victory For Juvenile Justice

As if to signify just how corrupt and defiled the Pennsylvania juvenile justice system had become, yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court took an unprecedented step and vacated the sentences of nearly 7000 children who had been adjudicated as delinquent. The children had appeared before former judge Mark Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008. Over that five year period Ciavarella had routinely disregarded the constitutional rights of the juveniles appearing before him, sentencing many to time at a privately-operated correctional facility in exchange for kickbacks from facility.

Once the corruption became known the Pennsylvania court appointed a special master to review the transcripts of thousands of individual cases. That review disclosed a systematic failure by Ciavarella to determine whether a juvenile’s waiver of the right to counsel was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily tendered, to advise the juvenile of the charges against them, and an overall lack of fundamental due process that the court described as “inimical to any system of justice and made even more grievous since these matters involved juveniles.”

Considering the damage done to Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, and considering the mountains of evidence of corruption, vacating the sentences of those children who appeared before Ciavarella was really the only option before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court if there was to be any restoration of faith in a process that had clearly failed these kids. Many believe this is the most serious judicial scandal in the history of the United States and it is refreshing to see it treated as such. We can only hope that the damage done to the juveniles through exposure to systematic fraud and abuse of power was not permanent, because if it was, then no remedy is sufficient.

photo courtesy of bredgur via Flickr

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

David B.

9:03PM PST on Nov 3, 2009

that one ,could destroy so many young lives/it boggles my mind!and i'm sure he'll end up disapearing with his ill gotten loot!

send a green star

Lisa A.

11:37AM PST on Nov 1, 2009

I live in Luzerne County, Pa., and let me tell you- corruption in Pa. remains big time and will continue in other forms after this scandal is forgotten. In every level of our State government, under every rock you will find oozing corruption- and sadly, it seems every State in the entire Country is just as bad.

TERRANCE N.

6:09AM PST on Nov 1, 2009

I once lived in East Stroudsburg PA with my son who was 17 at the time. He got into a fight with another teenager, which happens all the time. The authorities, not the school wanted to prosecute him. I had to send him back to New York or else they would have probably put him in jail.

This county was Monroe county. I would imagine this kind of thing happens all over the country. As bad as Bush was, people forget that it was Clinton who ruled over the incarceration of more people than any other president in history.

America inprisons the largest percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world. At the top you have the rich elite who have created the largest income cap since the great depression, and the rest of us who have to resort to all kinds of things just to survive in this capitalist dog eat dog system.

Helen T.

5:05AM PST on Nov 1, 2009

We need to ban private prisons outright. It is appalling that private companies are permitted to profit from imprisoning citizens!

And I hope both the corrupt judge and the corrupt company kicking him money are prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.

Andrew F.

1:09AM PDT on Nov 1, 2009

The PA thing is an example of what the pubs have done to the US. Supreme Court has too many Right Wing fascists on it. Prison in US is a for profit industry, and US tries to tell other countries to stop human rights abuses - LOL.

kurt w.

6:49PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

This is why when the constitution was first put into effect it left a clause, that if state or Federal becomes to corrupt, is it our right to" paraphrase" rid ourselves of them to create a more perfect Union. From Dylan "The Times they are a Changin'

Gretchen S.

5:23PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

i am a professional juvenile justice officer, working in a state detention facility. juveniles sent to detention are vulnerable and teeter in the balance between being rescue-able and being emotionally hardened into life-time criminals. the very idea of private "for profit" juvenile facilities chills my blood. citizens who care at all about the future can do the following:

get involved, campaign/petition force your state legislators to provide diligent oversight of juvenile justice systems.

get involved in delinquency prevention. Mentoring young, at-risk kids is the best insurance that they won't end up in trouble. Big Brothers Big Sisters, scouting, local Boys and Girls Clubs, or just being caring neighbors. Prevention is worth more than billions of dollars in treatment.

support organizations like the ACLU and involve them when you hear about injustice.

state agencies, from law enforcement, corrections, and all the rest, are as good or as bad as concerned, involved citizens make them.

speak out. care. save the world by saving your own community.

Tome R.

4:24PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

Word of advice: never, never, report your child to the police and be very wary of reporting any child to the police. Try desperately to work out problems without going to the authorities. Once you enter this system, you lose total control over your child and/or any child you have by your actions put at the mercy of the system. Our system of justice (?) does terrible things to children in the name of justice. Somebody should write a book. There would be no shortage of examples to chill the blood of those who have not yet learned the hard way about juvenile justice in America.

4:17PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

One has to be blind and deaf not to encounter frequent tales of judicial misconduct. From the Supreme Court on down, justice is not blind. No, justice in the hands of our present jurists is for sale or for trade on the political exchange. This is one of our most serious and fundamental problems. This is North American jurists, not third world judges!!!

John T.

2:56PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

http://pysih.com/2009/03/26/update-judge-mark-a-ciavarella-and-judge-michael-t-conahan/

"Judge Ciavarella and the other judge, Michael T. Conahan, admitted that they had agreed to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers that paid them for the business. Under their agreements, the judges will serve 87 months in federal prison and will resign from the bench and from the bar."
This is one paragraph from the linked article. You'll note, it wasn't just one judge; it was 2 who put their greed above a child's future. These private, for profit, institutions need to go. The only reason they exist is so the state can save money on salaries and benefits most state workers get through collective bargaining.
At least, with a state employee, you do have redress through the oversight committee. These private outfits just fire the transgressing employee from his $8.00 per hour job and assure every one the situation has been resolved.
No state is any better or any worse where these private facilities exist.
Only God knows how badly these kids are damaged. Pennsylvania has a big job ahead of them. Expungment will not right the wrong.