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Headline in the New York Times: "Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit."
The Times goes on to deliver the gist of the story: Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan "appeared in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to plead guilty to wire fraud and income tax fraud for taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care."
How many kids have been on the receiving end of Ciavarella and Conahan's self-enriching brand of "justice"? The Times offers a hint: "For years, youth advocacy groups complained that Judge Ciavarella was unusually harsh. He sent a quarter of his juvenile defendants to detention centers from 2002 to 2006, compared with a state rate of 1 in 10. He also routinely ignored requests for leniency made by prosecutors and probation officers."
That these guys got away with it for so long, doing their dirty work beneath the noses of prosecutors and probation officers, tells us something about how easy corruption can flourish in a criminal justice system that places itself beyond the kinds of accountability processes that are standard in other professions. Add to the lack of accountability the motive private incarceration centers have to profit from the misery of others, and you have a recipe for corruption.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Prison for Profit: Recipe for Corruption
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2 comments:
I have family in western Pennsylvania. In speaking with a friend a couple of weeks ago (Clark Summmit), she told me about the corruption by the judges and that it would become national news.
Personally, I believe this incident is not an isolated case. Many judges and prosecutors are getting away with unscrupulous behavior yet remain on the side of the law.
Prison bars, DA's; judges drinking and driving, etc. I can only imagine that it is why it is curiously called members of the BAR.
"That these guys got away with it for so long, doing their dirty work beneath the noses of prosecutors and probation officers, tells us something about how easy corruption can flourish in a criminal justice system that places itself beyond the kinds of accountability processes that are standard in other professions. Add to the lack of accountability the motive private incarceration centers have to profit from the misery of others, and you have a recipe for corruption."
How very true. And yes, this corruption is applauded by certain individuals in Colorado. No compassion, no empathy.
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