Updated Update: Judge Ciavarella Found Guilty
By Anne Laurie February 19th, 2011
Since Kay is busy organizing in Ohio (Ohio residents, check that post!), she graciously gave me permission to post another update on the Pennsylvania judge caught using hapless local teenagers as a profit center:
SCRANTON, Pa. – A former juvenile court judge was convicted Friday of racketeering in a case that accused him of sending youth offenders to for-profit detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in illicit payments from the builder and owner of the lockups.
Luzerne County ex-Judge Mark Ciavarella, 61, left the bench in disgrace two years ago after prosecutors charged him with engineering one of the biggest courtroom frauds in U.S. history by using juvenile delinquents as pawns in a plot to get rich…
Ciavarella was expressionless as the verdicts were being read. Prosecutors called him a flight risk and asked that he be held pending sentencing, but he was allowed to remain free. He is likely to get a prison sentence of more than 12 years, according to prosecutors…
The judge, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, saying he ran his courtroom with “complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles,” including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
His rough treatment of youths — whom he often had handcuffed and shackled — did not figure into his corruption trial, which focused on the payments from Mericle and Powell. But prosecutor Gordon Zubrod told jurors in his closing argument that Luzerne County’s juveniles were indeed victimized by Ciavarella — that he had used them as “pawns in a scheme to enrich himself.”...
Taking the stand in his own defense, the former judge acknowledged to jurors that he failed to report the payments on his tax returns and hid them from the public, but he denied any plot to take kickbacks or extort money. Ciavarella told jurors that he thought he was legally entitled to Mericle’s money, calling it a “finder’s fee” for introducing Mericle to Powell…
Read the article, and if you missed Kay’s original post, her commentary is important. I should probably point out that, despite all odds, the kids exploited by Ciavarella and his co-conspirators were apparently white, genuine Heartland Americans™ who turned out to be just as vulnerable as any off-color possibly-non-citizen denizens of the hated urban enclaves. The antics of Ciavarella and his chums would make a great Carl Hiaasen novel, if only there were alligators in Pennsylvania to help dispose of the evidence.
Posted in Assholes, C.R.E.A.M., Decline and Fall, Outrage, Shitty Cops
Oh crap.
I just imagined what the commentaries would have been if he had targeted only brownish-looking kids (“There is the distinct possibility that those kids did actually do something wrong…”).
February 19th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
So, when we bust the Teachers Union and privatize the schools, who is getting their palms greased? Throw the book at this fucking Judge.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
For-profit prisons, business-written laws, and unlimited anonymous corporate campaign contributions.
What could go wrong?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
I actually don’t know what to make of this part. What’s the value of injecting race here?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
@D. Mason:
It was injected in the original post in the comments.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Wait, wait, forgot one crucial facet: a government-sanctioned “War on X” which you just happen to be equipped to deal with.
For a long time.
Maybe forever.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Look forward, not back?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
@Ruckus: Makes sense.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
One thing I’ll give Sully—he realizes that these fuckers were a special sort of evil that is not easily described.
I’m not sure what penalty is appropriate for ruining children for your own enrichment. That is a kind of evil I have thankfully not been exposed to before this nonsense.
I cannot support the death penalty, but whatever penalty these folks endure will be too short and too lenient.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
@James Hare: Really? That sort of insight—destroying children’s lives for profit—is sufficient to get a conservative writer kudos? Jeesh, here I thought that was pretty obvious the moment I saw the first news report about the situation.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
OT, but also an update on that Ohio post below
February 19th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
I guess there is no chance this scumbag will be placed into the general prison population. Pity.
A fitting punishment would be to lock him up in a cage at the local zoo, apart from the innocent animals, with the story of his crimes on a plaque for all the public to see.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
@El Cid:
Lately it seems that’s the best he can do. The rest is whining that folks aren’t understanding enough of his illness or willing to excuse his ugly politics.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
The max for his convictions is 157 years. Sounds about right to me.
Unfortunately sentencing guidelines call for 12-15. This asshole deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Anne Laurie @ Top:
Given all the gun love out there (I know the area well), I’m surprised no one has shot the son of a bitch dead yet.
.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
@Mr Furious:
The judge can exceed the sentencing guidelines, and, given the extraordinary nature of the crimes, would be entirely justified in doing so.
.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
@Mr Furious: He’s 61. There’s a good chance it will be the rest of his life.
Fine by me. Payback’s a bitch, “Judge.”
February 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
@Mr Furious: If this judge sees the inside of a prison cell I will be dumbstruck.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
The mother of young man committed to one of these for-profit institutions (for possession of drug paraphernalia) who later killed himself gives the criminal judge a piece of her mind.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Do you know how you can bring together Hugo Chavez and his rabidly bitter, vehement opponents?
Have the GOP head of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee in the House of Representatives Connie Mack at CPAC threaten a US embargo against Venezuela and get the country listed on the US’ terrorist-supporting nation list because Mack’s a tough guy with Hugo Chavez.
The united opposition response?
You see? The Republicans really can bring us all together.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
@James Hare:
Sure you have. You’re exposed to it every time someone mass-markets a new fattening, non-nutritious, food to kids — and every time a politician votes to cut education spending to fund a tax break for his rich buddies. And every time the GOP votes to cut WIC funds, as the House did recently.
Enriching yourself at the cost of childrens’s well-being and future is a common path to riches in this country. They’re an easily manipulated and weakly defended target.
.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
@James Hare: Hey, I take a strong stand against smothering orphans in carbon monoxide for TV reality shows.
Can I get some respect as a conservative blogger now?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Is it wrong to hope an administrative error results in this dirtbag sharing a cell with one of his former victims?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
@JGabriel: Young bucks, T-bone steaks, Cadillacs, etc.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
For anyone who can read Spanish, the unanimous condemnation of Connie Mack by the entire Venezuelan delegation to Parlatino is pretty bad-ass. (A PDF of the entire conjointly signed statement is available here.)
February 19th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
They should put him alone in a room with the mother whose son committed suicide in Juvy over a minor violation, from CNN vid I posted last thread. There wouldn’t be much left of this creep. Poor woman, raw pain and rage, and righteous. I hope she finds an outlet to some day temper that rage from the evil that was visited onto her family from this miscreant judge et al. It will eat her alive and leave yet another victim.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
This is going to sound strange, but think about it for a minute…
Its almost [almost] a relief to see a bastard convicted for ordinary venality as opposed to all of the teabaggerry stupidness we’re dealing with every day on this blog.
Not that there’s a hole deep enough in the PA prisons for this scumbag.
Any word on the other judge? Is he being tried separately?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
@El Cid:
I get your point but the bar has been set very low for conservative bloggers, somewhere south of hell. I’ll bet right now, there’s a wingnut blogger or radio host defending this judge and ranting about how this is the fault of the liberals and their unruly kids.
Still, I don’t get the fascination with Sullivan. He’s not a good enough writer for me to want to wade through his sewage just so I can find something I like.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
@M. Bouffant:
Damn that was painful to see. Good for her.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
@AnotherBruce:
Since I first encountered Sully, before I even knew what a blog was, as the author of a WSJ OpEd saying how gay marriage is actually a very conservative concept, I have been willing to cut him some slack.
But I’m more and more going on the stopped-clock theory.
After all, I cut the dweeb George Will a lot of slack for years, too, because he wrote a column calling for Nixon’s resignation.
I’m patient, but not that patient.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
@AnotherBruce: I’d guess that the right wouldn’t at all side with the judge, but I agree on the blaming of libruls, but not so much their own kids but some sort of liberal policies which allowed or encouraged this judge to do it and which are responsible for all these troubled kids in the first place.
Or maybe that these troublemakers should just be sent to regular jail anyway.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
@AnotherBruce:
I have such mixed feelings there. I’m done with him, after his latest crap, but I’ve been done with him half a dozen times already, so I know that won’t last. He really is a compelling writer. He really is. And he’s the ultimate blogger, in that the Personal is the Political is his maxim, to the extreme. But he does have some incredibly stupid impulses for an intelligent man, and you just have to deal with that, at least if you want to.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
@General Stuck:
Didn’t see you’d posted that last thread. The mother was interviewed on CNN later, & she was far from forgiving. As she said, he ruined her life, & she’s indeed being eaten alive.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
iirc, this case had previously been plea-bargained to an agreed guilty-plea & sentence of 87 months, but the judge rejected the plea-bargain terms as inadequate in view of the crimes committed, and req’d that the case go to trial. in view of his attitude, i wouldn’t be surprised (& would be pleased!) if he decides on a sentence substantially greater than the ‘sentencing guidelines’ of 12-15 years.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
@AnotherBruce:
Witch hunt! Witch hunt! Law and order judge brought down by liberal scofflaws!
February 19th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
What sucks is that he’ll only get 12 years and no one can give those kids the time they lost.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
@M. Bouffant:
I can’t remember the last time I watched a video that affected me like that one. You just want to reach into the monitor and do something to offer some comfort.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
@Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people): If he’s in jail for the full twelve,I’ll take it. Yeah, sad commentary on our system, but so be it.
He truly is a special brand of evil.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
12 years in jail would really suck. I think he’d feel it. He’s a scumbag, but he’s totally not used to be held accountable ever. I think 12 years would do it.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
It’s a pity that scum like this never kill themselves to show a little guilt. My guess is he doesn’t feel any.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Um, this DID make a good Leverage episode.
One of my favorite moments concerning 301 was when we were screening the episode, and I was sitting next to a very conservative friend. (Yes, I have those.) When the corporate prison pay-for-prisoners scam was explained in the episode, he threw a sidelong glance at me. I shrugged. “We didn’t change that much from the real case, sadly.”
A beat. “Wait, that really happened?”
“A little tweaked, but yeah.”
February 19th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Privatized prisons are a special evil. We have created a situation where companies have a financial incentive to imprison people. In this case it was children, but in other cases it has been innocent adults. Let’s hear it for the invisible hand.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:40 am
@gwangung: Something for me to look forward to! We don’t have cable, so we’re only up to Season 2 on the Leverage DVDs.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:51 am
Authoritarian law and order, capricious harsh punishments for “juvenile delinquents”, generating profit for a private prison and himself—I’m surprised this guy isn’t another Repuke hero-criminal like Oliver North or Gordon Liddy.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:52 am
hope he’s thrown in a maximum security prison with a roommate named Tiny.
hope he gets his ass beat every fucking week.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:57 am
C’mon now, Skink woulda had this guy skinned WAAAAY before the Feds even started an investigation.
February 20th, 2011 at 2:21 am
Wow, talk about incentivizing locking kids up. Judge impartiality be damned. What a fucking asshole.
February 20th, 2011 at 3:28 am
“the kids exploited by Ciavarella and his co-conspirators were apparently white, genuine Heartland Americans™ who turned out to be just as vulnerable as any off-color possibly-non-citizen denizens of the hated urban enclaves”
Uh huh. I saw a CNN interview with the woman who confronted the judge outside the courthouse after he was convicted, and screamed about her son being driven to suicide after getting caught up in the juvenile detention system because of the judge. She talked about her son being sent to a boot camp full of “inner-city” people, including “murderers”. I immediately switched the channel. There was a time when hearing her say that wouldn’t have caused me to be less sympathetic toward her. That time is gone.
February 20th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Ciavrella is claiming victory because he was acquited of bribery and extortion charges – “See, i never traded kids for cash. It was just a coincidence that every time I sent some first-offender up on hard juvy time, I got another box of cash.”
At least the other (supervising) judge had the decency to plead guilty, even if it was a plea bargain. Ciavarella is a self-deluded power junkie, and he still believes he did nothing wrong. Those kids shouldn’t have done that graffiti in the first place.
I’m just surprised he didn’t cite anything other than his own authority in his justification – I was expecting the standard True-Patriot-Founding-Father-God-and-Country BS for his justifications. I guess he is too arrogant to ascribe his actions to anyone or anything else.
I hope he gets shunned in prison – that would be the true punishment for a guy like this.
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:32 pm