“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by a judge charged in a corruption scandal, saying that none of the young offenders got a fair hearing.” (AP via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Basically every conviction is every case former judge Mark Ciavarella heard between 2003 and 2008 was overturned, and only a handful were cleared for possible retrials. Earlier, many lower-level cases were overturned, but this ruling goes farther and doesn’t beat about the bush about it.
Also, at some point since I last heard about this story, Ciavarella and some fellow corrupt judges’ plea agreement was rejected by Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Kosik.
The wheels turn slowly, but it’s nice to see them turn.
Previous Threads [thread=511936]here[/thread], [thread=506189]here[/thread] and [thread=506342]here[/thread].
I see that Ciavarella has not yet been tried for his corruption. Might I suggest that his sentence, if found guilty, should be the total of all the sentences that he imposed while he was being bribed by that private prison.
Which part are we mad about? That Ciaverella is evil, and took the justice system down with him, or that the Supreme Court has thrown out all the convictions?
It seems to me that the Supreme Court made the only decision it could: if a judge is corrupt, and his corruption has affected his decisions, all those decisions must be overturned. The SC has done its best to restore faith in the judicial system.
The whole idea of a “Private prison” confounds me. There are some things that should not be operated for profit. The profit drive makes corruption possible. The private prison operators want more inmates so they can make more money and gives rise to the bribery. Without the bribe, the judge has no incentive for such wholesale corruption. Of course regular old mafia style corruption is still possible. But this opens a whole new avenue.
The same thing, ISTM, is true of the military, police forces, fire departments and other services provided by the government. I’d like to see healthcare and utilities in that list, too, as recent fraud in the energy industry and the out-of-control health care costs demonstrate.
I do hope that Ciavarella shall enjoy a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
And I do hope that at that trial he shall be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a for-profit prison that cuts corners on luxury items such as food and clothing for prisoners.
Publicly ran prisons aren’t immune from corruption, nor is the military, the police, or fire department.
I agree that when you add profit-seeking entities into the mix it opens new avenues of corruption, but you’re simply mistaken if you think that is what makes “corruption possible.” I understand you may have been talking about this specific act of corruption, but given the sweeping tone of your post you should have phrased things differently if that was your intention.
Keep in mind whether or not a prison is ran by a for profit company, administrators of prisons still deal extensively with for profit companies. Prisons have many business partners for a wide range of things.
Same goes for the military, police, et cetera. Not to mention there is always the potential for low level “individual” corruption (like police officers who pocket valuables found at crime scenes or soldiers who attempt to do the same in a war zone.)
This is exactly what I meant. I’m sorry I wasn’t clear.
Fiscal corruption is bad and should be prosecuted vigorously. However, I think corrupting the justice system itself is more serious and more of a threat to society at large. Private prisons incents convictions for the one person in the system that is most responsible for ensuring that justice is fair. Under most other forms of corruption this incentive is not present. In fact the opposite is more likely. And, frankly, I think fewer convictions is not as bad one innocent person sent to jail.
I’m okay with this if and only if none of these cases involved a jury of some kind. (I would assume this is the case, but I haven’t been following this.)
But, I must admit, it makes it sound like he was already found guilty. I’m surprised that more people aren’t disturbed my his being punished without a trial. I mean, I can understand it if that’s the way it is normally done, but it isn’t how the justice system is supposed to work in my idyllic mind.
Amen. Not that I usually try to mix church and state. He had better hope that God has mercy on his soul, because the justice system isn’t going to have any on his body. Neither will his fellow prisoners.
I agree; I was just confused why this event has generated a bbq pit thread. I thought maybe garygnu was mad at the toss of the convictions. I guess it’s a new reason to be mad again at Ciavarella? Sort of, “see the extent of the damage he’s caused?” The OP didn’t really say.
It’s always a shame to see someone throw away so much of their life, but after the kids’ lives he wrote off, I can’t say I have a lot of pity for the guy.
Yes. This would be a good way to “let the punishment fit the crime”.
This. Let each case he was involved in, carry a separate sentence, and let each sentence be served consecutively, not concurrently, so he never ever gets out. Let him rot.
