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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Court Scraps Pa. Juvenile Convictions

Corrupt judge took kickbacks from detention centers

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(AP) – Pennsylvania's highest court today overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from youth detention centers. The state Supreme Court ruled that former judge Mark Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youth offenders who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers between 2003 and 2008.

In one of the most egregious cases of judicial corruption ever, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, with taking $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in privately owned lockups. The judges pleaded guilty to fraud last month and face sentences of more than seven years in prison.

Mark Ciavarella, in foreground, leaves the federal courthouse in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009.
Mark Ciavarella, in foreground, leaves the federal courthouse in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/David Kidwell)
Juveniles sentenced by a corrupt judge in Pennsylvania will have their convictions overturned.
Juveniles sentenced by a corrupt judge in Pennsylvania will have their convictions overturned.   (Shutter Stock)
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SPH
Mar 26, 09 9:09 PM CDT
Seven years are not enough..... Reply
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oldgoat
Mar 27, 09 3:18 AM CDT
Let him serve the time of the kids he was paid to send to jail. 7 years is far too short a sentence. Reply
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jeebus
Oct 14, 09 6:02 PM CDT
That judge should have his balls cut off with a rusty pocket knife. Reply
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