The high court on Thursday threw out more than five years' worth of juvenile cases heard by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is charged with accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers.
Children routinely appeared in front of Ciavarella without lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Ciavarella also failed to question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," the Supreme Court said. After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was paying bribes to the judge.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33539621/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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Corrupt public officials like this judge should be executed.
Children routinely appeared in front of Ciavarella without lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Ciavarella also failed to question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," the Supreme Court said. After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was paying bribes to the judge.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33539621/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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Corrupt public officials like this judge should be executed.
