Records key to cases against two corrupt judges may get destroyed
Published: July 28, 2009
Updated 7 months ago
Lawyers who argue that thousands of juveniles were sentenced to prison terms by corrupt judges are petitioning a US federal court in Pennsylvania to preserve the case record so they can sue for damages.
Attorneys are seeking to stop the destruction of files related to the cases of an unknown number of juveniles who received prison sentences for minor offenses from two judges who were later found to have accepted bribes from private prison companies.
The petition before a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania came after the state’s Supreme Court in March agreed to expunge the youths’ criminal records, but also ordered the destruction of their files.
Without at least one copy of the relevant files, attorney Lourdes Rosado told AFP, the juveniles will be unable to pursue a civil case seeking damages.
“The federal court needs that information in order to decide whether or not that claim is valuable and whether or not the children are entitled to relief,” said Rosado, associate director of the Juvenile Law Center, a non-profit group which advocates for children’s rights.
After months of procedural battles, the state Supreme Court agreed last week to preserve under seal a copy of documents related to 400 juveniles who have so far been identified as victims and have filed lawsuits.
But, according to Rosado, the total number of victims “could be up to 6,500″ and attorneys are now calling for a class action lawsuit to be certified for all the children who appeared before the judges between 2003 and 2008.
Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania admitted last February to having accepted 2.6 million dollars from private prisons in exchange for giving juveniles sentences that were disproportionate to their offenses.
Ciavarella and Conahan have filed a petition seeking the dismissal of lawsuits seeking damages, citing “the doctrine of judicial immunity.”
Among those sentenced by the judges was a young man who received nine months for having stolen a jar of nutmeg worth four dollars, and another juvenile who was sentenced to three months for stealing some change from a car.
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“Ciavarella and Conahan have filed a petition seeking the dismissal of lawsuits seeking damages, citing “the doctrine of judicial immunity.”
And that is grounds for burying evidence of their own crimes forever?
Outraged and building my bunker
NWW
These judges have committed a host of crimes besides the official corruption. Unlawful detention, unlawful imprisonment, cruel and unusual punishment, kidnapping?, holding someone hostage?, domestic terrorism?, extortion, bribery, money laundering, TAX evasion.
For real! This is how prosecutors work. They throw the book at you and hope something sticks.
Dick Cheney has $20 million invested in the Vanguard Group who are the largest investors with PRIVATE PRISONS.
Hell could never be hot enough for this filth.
Typical…state destroying evidence.
the legal system always protects its own. like republicans. they will lie and twist the truth and stall and threaten to sue you or throw you in jail for bringing up the fact that they are dirty.
i always wondered if a law degree somehow affected the laws of physics. they sure do seem to think so.
They’re just doing the same thing that our government is doing and has been doing to us for years. All they have to do is have Obama’s lawyers file the same petitions as they’ve done for Cheney and his puppet. Then, tie it up in court for the next 50 years. The case will be closed when all the records have mysteriously disappeared.
“Ciavarella and Conahan have filed a petition seeking the dismissal of lawsuits seeking damages, citing “the doctrine of judicial immunity.”
“Theodore Roosevelt: No man is above the law
and no man is below it: nor do we ask any
man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”
Earlier this year, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and Conahan with taking $2.6 million in payoffs related to the construction of privately owned detention centers and the placement of youths in them. The judges pleaded guilty to fraud and face more than seven years in prison.
Any judicial body who grands this scum protection under “the doctrine of judicial immunity” becomes complicit in their crimes. These judges should have been placed in the same prisons with the youths who they harshly sentenced.
Seems like a no brainer. Preserve the evidence if it helps the kids get some more justice.
northwestwoods, agreed. I mean really, who do they think they are? The Bush administration?
“Judicial immunity” my ass. Nation is paying a high price for continually tolerating 2 worthless, good-for-nothing political parties.
They’ve decided to conceal judicial injustices, illegal court procedure, and incarcerations against children? To save money and coverup high crimes?
Goodbye USA. Soon this country will be as worthless as the DOLLAR that’s driven it all these years.
I agree with sparky “All they have to do is have Obama’s lawyers file the same petitions as they’ve done for Cheney and his puppet. Then, tie it up in court for the next 50 years. The case will be closed when all the records have mysteriously disappeared.”
Sad to see the Obama Administration using the same script as the Bush Administration.
Some Change!
We the people have to bring these creeps to justice or this will happen again even when the Democrats are in power (perhaps especially, remember President Johnson and Vietnam and Operation Phoenix, thousands assassinated? The CIA again).
Prosecute all those that tortured in our name, then go after all the other Federal Crimes and violations of our Constitution committed by Bush and Cheney.
If House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers does not soon start hearings in his Committee
on the crimes of the Bush Administration
WE Must Call For His Resignation.
SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding
both a Commission of Inquiry
and a Special Prosecutor
For All Their Crimes
at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG