Copyright infringement. The Onion is extremely protective of their format.
Wait what? Did she use material from their page, or their name? Or are you saying The Onion is just claiming a general monopoly on satire?
On edit: I think I may have been wooshed. 
Somewhat? Those prosecutors should be disbarred. Right the fuck now. They knew damned well that those kids had no legal representation.
My husband was a juvenile prosecutor in a god-awful county. They were constantly reminded that EVERYBODY in that courtroom- prosecutors, defenders, judges, everybody- had the primary responsibility of doing what is best for this child. He is horrified by this.
I thought this sort of thing hadn’t happened since the days of the Old South, when a county judge had a brother-in-law who needed his crop picked. :mad:
Regarding the complicity of prosecutors: It’s entirely possible that the Pennsylvania juvenile justice system does not involve the DA’s office at all. There are states where ticketing or arrest of a minor moves from the police through local Children’s Social Services to the Juvenile or Family Court without the DA getting involved – unless it’s a case of violent crime where he may have discretion to prosecute a teen as an adult. I don’t know how Pennsylvania law works; does anyone know or have access to factual procedural information?
As for the judges, they should each get two fair trials – one in criminal court. with the book thrown at them for every possible charge, from abuse of judicial power to unlawful imprisonment, and one in civil court, where a jury decides the degree to which each child/teen’s life has been damaged by these decisions, and then apportions out the total property of the judge, including anything he may have put in a S Corporation or personal LLC or transferred to a family member over the last few years, and then apportions it out to the kids.
And, of course, similar prosecutions for the “I’m so innocent” CEO of those two private prisons and anyone involved in the payoffs, along with a bar on his and their having any further employment in corrections or any job where they come in contact with persons under 18. Plus dissolution of the corporations and their assets being sold and distributed according to the formula from the judge’ trials.
Sorry EJs Girl, I wasn’t sure if it was the same in all states as it is in Kansas and had no time to check. Polycarp clarified a little. I can’t even fathom a kid being tried without legal counsel.
This is so horrifying that it beggars description. Between this and the “Newsweek” story re foster kids having their identities stolen for credit card fraud and other things–what the fuck is wrong with people? These are kids. Some of them are no doubt troubled, but I think can safely say that ALL of them are more troubled after their experience with the “court” system in PA than before.
:mad:
Wow. That is massively fucked up.
I’m sure there are plenty of private businessmen that have committed murder but that doesn’t prove that private businesses are killers. Individuals commit crimes. That doesn’t indict the system they’re a member of.
This whole story is like something out of Dickens.
And not, you know, in a good way.
Sorry, got all outraged for a minute! 
In CA, juveniles are tried before a judge but no jury- I am sure that PA could have different ways to conduct juvenile trials.
I am curious as hell to get the straight dope on it now.
:mad:
In cases like this I wonder about the defense attorneys. The client lays all the card down on your desk you look at him and ask, “What am I supposed to do with the stuff? Maybe we can bargain down to life without the possibility.”
Maximum sentence is about 48 months, but will also require forfeiture of judicial pensions.
You are making absolutely no sense here at all.
I am no sort of libertarian - the particular conservative philosophy I hew to recognizes a proper government role. But you make an error when you describe government as a disinterested body in this - we have seen that government can have interests. Rod Blagojevich was a hefty part of his state government, wasn’t he? Was he disinterested?
And while that is an extreme example, it points out the problem with your criticism. It is wrong to suppose government is disinterested - indeed, we see here that it is wrong to suppose that government is uncorrupt. A wise system would recognize this and build in safeguards rather than assume a wise government, and then, when bad examples show up, blame the whole mess on libertarian leanings. That makes no sense at all.
Given the chance, I would do the same thing. These clowns are just disgusting.
Definitely. To my mind, that would be Justice.
There’s some truth to what you say. Here’s my comment: it’s not libertarianism that is the issue, but the apparent creed of some that ‘privatization is always a good thing.’ Sometimes it is, sure, and sometimes not. IMO, more often than not, it’s not.
People in government positions are, or can be, held accountable for their acts – by their bosses, by the elected officials whom their bosses report to, by the electorate at the polling place, by the courts for mal-/non-feasance in a public trust, by the impechment process… Get specific about the offense and the position of the offender: there’s a mechanism in place to ensure he doesn’t do it any more. With privatization, not so: unless under government contract, the private firm is accountable only to its owners, not to the public. This may be fine if it’s, e.g., running a non-franchise bus line – the market will ensure that the pigsty on wheels loses to the cleanly firm, the firm that continues to employ assholes dealing with the public loses to the one for whom customer service is a meaningful concept, the people who decide to give lousy service and charge high will lose out to those who give good service and/or charge less. But when the issue is a business weilding compulsory powers in behalf of government, privatization is no longer a good idea. As for example here: the Thirteenth Amendment ensures that no one person has compulsory power over another. In cases of convicted criminality requiring incarceration, government arguably has that power though no single citizen does. But consider who’s accountable here. The correctional corporation? They had every opportunity to speak up and denounce the judge for requiring payoffs to sentence to their business. They can’t be blamed for wanting as much custom from the courts as possible – they’re in business to make money, after all. Although I’m firm that the business they’re in is one that should not be allowed to exist, they were in it legally. Although everyone involved here is reprehensible to an enormous degree, I can see a very slight ameliorating factor in their being willing to make the payoffs to keep their facility running at capacity. That is, after all, the business they’re in – and their accountability is to their bosses and the stockholders, not to the government or the body politic. Which, I think, adequately illustrates why privatized prisons and other correctional facilities are a Very Bad Idea.
Perhaps, sir, you or other Pennsylvanians or ex-Pennsylvanians might be able to get the normal procedure for juvenile justice in that state. As you’ll note above, the question was raised about the DA’s complicity – and it would be worthwhile to find out how a case does come to Juvenile Court in the Keystone State.
Er, no. Because private firms have to follow the law too, and the law has accountability provisions built into it pretty strongly.
Actually, it’s a strong argument against the GOP’s privatization theory, where they want to privatize everything, including IRS debt collection.:eek: Of course, Libertarianism supports pretty close to 100% privatization, and this is a good example of why it won’t work.
I don’t see this case as having anything to do with the question of libertarianism-it is simply about two very corrupt individuals, whjo were given the highest judicial power in the land.
I hope these two weasels get at least 7 year prison terms-and at a maximum security prison. two court officers, sworn to uphold the law!-Disgusting! 
And, they need to review all the sentences and reverse many of them.