Martin Luther King Jr. once said “he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps perpetuate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” King’s words came to mind when I learned about a macabre system of turnstile juvenile justice in Luzerne County, Pa.
On Feb. 12, 2009, former Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pled guilty in federal court to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for placing juvenile offenders into privately operated detention centers. In many instances, these youth were held on relatively minor charges as first offenders against the recommendation of the Probation Office. Equally disturbing was that, in the majority of these cases, these youth were not afforded their constitutional right to legal counsel. According to statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission, 52 percent of the youth adjudicated in Luzerne County were unrepresented by lawyers, 10 times greater than the Pennsylvania average of 5.6 percent who waived this right.
A review of some of the cases reveals just how contemptuous and arrogant these two judges were. According to a new class-action suit, filed on behalf of numerous victims and complainants by the Juvenile Law Center in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania on Feb. 26, 2009, against Ciavarella and Conahan alleging conspiracy, corruption and kickbacks, youth were routinely jailed for such crimes as serving as a lookout for a shoplifter taking DVDs, shoplifting (which is a summary offense), graffiti, school fights, hazing, writing a prank note about a school official, stealing loose change from an open car for snacks and possessing drug paraphernalia (a misdemeanor in adult court), and trespassing into an unlocked, empty building. The suit further states that Ciavarella even locked up a 10 year old girl. Many of these court proceedings lasted only a few minutes and the children were then shackled and handcuffed as they were escorted directly to detention without the opportunity to speak to their parents. Pennsylvania juvenile law is very clear that incarceration is only to be used as a last resort when the public safety is at risk, or if other rehabilitative efforts have failed. Did these youth’s actions pose a public safety risk? Did the punishment fit the crime? You be the judge.
Because of their wonton disregard of the most highly valued of all public trusts, I believe that these two men deserve far more than the seven years in prison that they got through the plea bargain negotiated by their legal counsel, a resource denied to most of the youth who appeared before them. Their callous insensitivity will inflict lifelong damage to hundreds of youth summarily denied justice in their court rooms.
Equally troubling is the apparent code of silence that existed within the Luzerne County court system over this long period of time. While these judges were lining their pockets by selling children to profiteers, a district attorney and other court officials were present every time the children’s constitutional rights were denied. How could they allow this wholesale injustice to take place right under their noses without protest? Jacqueline Musto Carroll, the current Luzerne County district attorney, in her filing as a party to the suit actually defended these judicial practices in opposition to a lawsuit brought by the Juvenile Law Center seeking to remove jurisdiction from this corrupt system. Carroll subsequently stated that prosecutors who appeared in court shouldn’t be faulted for not questioning the large number of juveniles who appeared without lawyers. She added “it’s perfectly legal for someone to waive their right to an attorney.” I found Carroll’s argument insensitive, whimsical and arbitrary. Pardon me! The reason that a juvenile court exists is the presumption that youth are not yet capable of weighing the risks and consequences of adult legal decisions. Where were the public defenders in all of this, the police, the advocates, the probation office (one probation officer has been recently charged with tampering with evidence), etc.? Ironically, David Lupas, the district attorney who witnessed this scandal over a period of years and failed to intervene, is now the Juvenile Court judge, having been appointed by the convicted Judge Mark Ciavarella. You just can’t make this stuff up. It is unfathomable to think that this is not some melodramatic movie plot conceived in the 1930s for Humphrey Bogart and the Bowery Boys. I believe that, as Dr. King stated, those who stood idly by while this injustice was allowed to unfold without speaking out, share in the responsibility for this tarnished system.
I further believe that all of society should be morally outraged at this heinous crime, as we all have a stake in a fair and equitable system of justice. It is the foundation of our free and democratic society, and we should settle for nothing less than a zero-tolerance policy for breaches of legal ethics. This outrageousness is heightened by the fact that these victims were vulnerable youth who are most dependent upon the protections of the system. How will they ever grow up to trust the system and not be jaded by the damaging effects of this injustice? I started my professional career as a probation officer in the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania. It is something that I care deeply about. I learned that administering justice and providing legal protections for juveniles was a sacrosanct privilege and responsibility. I lived through the reforms of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, the de-institutionalization movement, and, at one time, I was the state director responsible for the care of incarcerated delinquent youth. The ethical bar is simply higher for those that work in this system, especially for judges. I also have a special affinity for Luzerne County. In the 1970s it undertook the most aggressive human service integration project in the country in response to the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Agnes. I wrote about this in my Director’s Memo in the October 2008 issue of Policy and Practice. To have this criminal act occur in this same jurisdiction that has such a progressive social service history is even more abhorrent to me.
While there is plenty of blame to go around, there are also heroes. The federal law-enforcement officers under the direction of Leslie P. DeMarco of the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit and FBI Agent Janice K. Fedarcyk, who led the investigation into this corruption and developed an iron-clad case, are to be commended. Kudos are due to Pennsylvania Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richmond and her chief legal counsel, Allen Warshaw, who had the courage to file an unprecedented amicus brief urging the removal of jurisdiction in Luzerne County from these judges prior to their arrests. And last, but not least, to Bob Schwartz, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, and his excellent team of lawyers led by Legal Director Marsha Levick and Senior Attorney Lourdes Rosado. They exposed this mess through a lawsuit filed to challenge the practice of routinely denying a juvenile’s right to legal counsel. They were supported in this effort by the Juvenile Defender Association of Pennsylvania. Schwartz has been a champion of human rights for children throughout his career and his fingerprints are all over successful rehabilitation and reform movements in the United States. I know, because he rightfully and successfully sued a system that I ultimately became responsible for. Rather than feeling like a plaintiff, I became a partner as we sought to improve a troubled juvenile institution in the state. I encourage you to visit their web site and read the court documents related to this lawsuit, http://www.jlc.org/news/25/luzernelawsuit/. It is a fascinating read.
I certainly believe that former Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan deserve the punishment and infamy that they earned from their criminal acts. For the sake of profit, they disregarded their public trust, basic fairness, human rights and justice. They were willing to sacrifice the quality of children’s lives and their social development for pure greed. Perhaps the deafening sound of “Ca-Ching” that they tallied from each youth who appeared before them drowned out the sound of justice. The others in their midst who observed, tolerated and abided this injustice have no such excuse.
What do you think?
For related articles on this case, please click below
Court: Corrupt Judge's 1,200 Sentences Can Be Overturned
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/03/28/
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 Jerry Friedman was appointed executive director of APHSA in September 2001 after a 31-year-old career in public human services at both the state and local levels. Prior to his selection, Friedman was the executive deputy commissioner of the Texas Department of Human Services. In that capacity, he oversaw operations of a 15,000-person workforce providing services to 2 million Texans in 500 offices statewide with a budget of nearly $4 billion.
Before that, he served as assistant secretary of the Economic Services Administration at the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services.
Previously, Friedman also held positions as deputy secretary, Office of Income Maintenance, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare; director, Bureau of State Children and Youth Programs, Office of Children, Youth and Families, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare in Harrisburg; and director of Human Services for Dauphin County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Friedman began his public service career as a probation and parole officer in 1970. He holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from Pennsylvania State University. He currently serves on the board of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, the board of the Rural Assistance Center of the University of North Dakota, and is a member of the AMA sponsored Health Sector Assembly. E-mail: jerry.friedman@aphsa.org
Jerry's Director's Memos in Policy & Practice
Jerry's Previous Blogs:
Upside-Down Justice in Luzerne County
Cyber Security
The Case for Safety Net Investment
The Champ
CORPORATE WELFARE VS. PUBLIC WELFARE
The New RUPRI Human Services Panel
The Most Precious Gift
Real Heroes and Partnerships
Financial Crisis- October 2008
My Dirty Dozen and the Roadmap - August 2008
Retreat, a Wonderful Way to Move Forward - June 2008
My Excellent Adventure - March 2006
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