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eridani

(51,907 posts)
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 06:30 AM Oct 2014

This Judge Sold Children To Private Prisons For Cash, He’s Going Down For 28 Years


http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/24/this-judge-sold-children-to-private-prisons-for-cash-hes-going-down-for-28-years/


Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr has been sentenced to 28 years behind bars for literally selling kids to prisons for profit.

As Blue Nation Review reports:

A Pennsylvania judge has been convicted of selling children into prison for cash. The former judge, 61-year old Mark Ciavarella Jr, was sentenced to 30 years for taking money under the table from a developer and jailing thousands of adults and juveniles, some as young as ten. Ciavarella made more than a million dollars selling people into incarceration.


Around 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008 were overturned by The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, due to his violations of the juveniles’ constitutional rights – including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
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This Judge Sold Children To Private Prisons For Cash, He’s Going Down For 28 Years (Original Post) eridani Oct 2014 OP
good Sparhawk60 Oct 2014 #1
This is so egregious I Dorian Gray Oct 2014 #2
He did for 5 years... Lochloosa Oct 2014 #8
normally I would make a speech DonCoquixote Oct 2014 #3
Private prisons are another dark stain on American history. Scuba Oct 2014 #4
Yup a direct product of America's war on drugs. Initech Oct 2014 #40
I'd leave him in his cell until he dies and the body rots before I'd take it out. hobbit709 Oct 2014 #5
28 years is not nearly enough... theHandpuppet Oct 2014 #6
I heartily agree. FIFTY YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH. Raster Oct 2014 #19
He would be almost 100 in 28 years Marrah_G Oct 2014 #42
Justice has been done. Good. bklyncowgirl Oct 2014 #7
This picture says it all...I would let him and the Mom in the background alone in a room for 30 mins Lochloosa Oct 2014 #9
IF he were to serve out the full sentence, he'd be 89 when he gets out eShirl Oct 2014 #10
This message was self-deleted by its author Marrah_G Oct 2014 #43
one down - how many more to go lame54 Oct 2014 #11
Maybe 28 years for each kid would be fair gollygee Oct 2014 #12
Yes shenmue Oct 2014 #22
I bet this asshole never lost a minute of sleep deutsey Oct 2014 #13
Sociopath. The only explanation that makes sense to me. LiberalLoner Oct 2014 #31
28 years seems a bit light, to be honest. And can he be personally sued for damages? Orrex Oct 2014 #14
what about the prison corp? tk2kewl Oct 2014 #15
I'd like to know that as well... Whiskeytide Oct 2014 #24
Not.long.enough. Slave trading asshole should die in prison. No chance for parole and he shoud make Tuesday Afternoon Oct 2014 #16
Pig. lonestarnot Oct 2014 #17
This was a plotline on 'Leverage' a few years ago. displacedtexan Oct 2014 #18
It was a plotline in Law and Order SVU also a couple or 4 years ago. Kalidurga Oct 2014 #27
It is good that this guy was caught, but I'm guessing he is not the only one logosoco Oct 2014 #20
I think it likely that they will pay close attention to where he went wrong sibelian Oct 2014 #26
I wonder if he will have a meetup with some of his former victims when he gets there corkhead Oct 2014 #21
Well, I'm glad to see that something has been done right in America. nt ladjf Oct 2014 #23
What's happening to the private prisons? sibelian Oct 2014 #25
That was my first thought. 99th_Monkey Oct 2014 #28
Besides the judge, others need to be going to jail also mrdmk Oct 2014 #29
Private prisons ONLY serve the interests of Corporate Oligarchs, not the public. nt 99th_Monkey Oct 2014 #30
Private prisons are an abomination Art_from_Ark Oct 2014 #49
Don't be surprised toddwv Oct 2014 #32
those poor kids. Their lives were ruined. Long ago. librechik Oct 2014 #33
He was convicted in 2011 - this story is ancient jberryhill Oct 2014 #34
This story is several years old - he was convicted in 2011 jberryhill Oct 2014 #35
What happened to the prison company? Sanity Claws Oct 2014 #36
Good! vankuria Oct 2014 #37
I hope this piece of human sewage hifiguy Oct 2014 #38
I hope he dies in prison. nt TeamPooka Oct 2014 #39
Good news. aikoaiko Oct 2014 #41
AMEN AND AMEN!!! uponit7771 Oct 2014 #44
Another Democratic Underground Exclusive Dirty Socialist Oct 2014 #45
Recommended. H2O Man Oct 2014 #46
This is so mind-boggling that I can hardly grasp it. The devastated lives he wrought just for money. WinkyDink Oct 2014 #47
k&r. Thanks for posting. nm rhett o rick Oct 2014 #48
K & R !!! If we only knew. I bet there are more of these miscreants around the nation. Enthusiast Oct 2014 #50

DonCoquixote

(13,615 posts)
3. normally I would make a speech
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 06:47 AM
Oct 2014

something like "normally I am opposed to the death penalty..but"

However, as a former employee of the Corrections industry, I know what this bastard is looking forward to. No, I will not make a "don;t drop the soap" joke, as prison rape, is, in addition to being an atrocity, is also a major toll to indoctrinate gang members, making sure that in order to survive, your average kid busted with pot has to become the sort of monster that would make ISIL members shiver.

However, this SOB is about to learn firsthand what sort of HELL he has been helping to build.

Initech

(99,909 posts)
40. Yup a direct product of America's war on drugs.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 02:24 PM
Oct 2014

Keep locking up the petty offenders while the real criminals (Koch Bros, etc) walk free. Ain't it great?

Raster

(20,996 posts)
19. I heartily agree. FIFTY YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 11:16 AM
Oct 2014

This asshole sold children to the prison-for-profit industry just to fatten his wallet. Incarceration is not enough. Torture the motherfucker!

Lochloosa

(16,018 posts)
9. This picture says it all...I would let him and the Mom in the background alone in a room for 30 mins
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 08:25 AM
Oct 2014

Just saying....


Response to eShirl (Reply #10)

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
13. I bet this asshole never lost a minute of sleep
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 08:52 AM
Oct 2014

while he doing what he did.

I can't understand how people can be like that, but there appear to be quite a few of them out there, much to my dismay.

LiberalLoner

(9,761 posts)
31. Sociopath. The only explanation that makes sense to me.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:42 PM
Oct 2014

I knew one person in my life I truly believe was a sociopath, and she was frighteningly evil, and had no conscience whatsoever.

Whiskeytide

(4,459 posts)
24. I'd like to know that as well...
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:03 PM
Oct 2014

They are just as culpable as he was. The management had to have known what was going down. $1m in payments? That doesn't get past accounting without being noticed.

Tuesday Afternoon

(56,912 posts)
16. Not.long.enough. Slave trading asshole should die in prison. No chance for parole and he shoud make
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 09:53 AM
Oct 2014

some kind of monetary restitution to the children and their families.

If there is a hell, I hope he burns there for eternity.

What a fucking ASSHOLE.

displacedtexan

(15,694 posts)
18. This was a plotline on 'Leverage' a few years ago.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 10:34 AM
Oct 2014

Several judges were being paid to sentence nonviolent people to private prisons, in order for the prisons to fill all of their cells and get state funding.

Oh, it's grand how the money changes hands!

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
27. It was a plotline in Law and Order SVU also a couple or 4 years ago.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:10 PM
Oct 2014

A girl was sentenced because she sent a nude picture of herself to her boyfriend except she accidently sent it to the wrong person it went semi viral.... anywho they should never be able to sentence a minor for taking a nude selfie.

logosoco

(3,208 posts)
20. It is good that this guy was caught, but I'm guessing he is not the only one
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 11:22 AM
Oct 2014

out there doing this.

Whoever got the idea that private prisons was a good idea was f'ked up. We need a complete over haul of the whole system. Hopefully this will start something.
Somehow I don't think others taking bribes like this guy have the mindset that makes them realize what they are doing is wrong, and this guys sentence is probably not going to worry them.

sibelian

(7,804 posts)
26. I think it likely that they will pay close attention to where he went wrong
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:05 PM
Oct 2014

and remove any weaknesses in their system.
 

99th_Monkey

(19,326 posts)
28. That was my first thought.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:10 PM
Oct 2014

Since this judge is guilty, then it's prima facia that the prisons are also guilty of unjustly enslaving human beings for profit, at the very least.

mrdmk

(2,943 posts)
29. Besides the judge, others need to be going to jail also
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 12:31 PM
Oct 2014

For this trend to end, others who conspired with the judge need to be prosecuted.

At the same time, the for-profit prison system needs to be looked at very carefully.

Sanity Claws

(21,822 posts)
36. What happened to the prison company?
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 01:43 PM
Oct 2014

There was a briber, as well as a bribee.
The briber should have been barred from all government contracts for at least ten years.

vankuria

(901 posts)
37. Good!
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 01:52 PM
Oct 2014

Hard for me to comprehend people with no conscience, no heart, etc. I read one of the kids he sent to prison for a minor infraction committed suicide there, nothing can bring this child's life back or the nightmares faced by the kids he sentenced, but justice was truly served by putting away this selfish bastard for good.

H2O Man

(73,308 posts)
46. Recommended.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 03:18 PM
Oct 2014

I just posted an OP, "Kids for Cash," that may be of interest to those who understand the need to reform the juvenile prison industry:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025612458

 

WinkyDink

(51,311 posts)
47. This is so mind-boggling that I can hardly grasp it. The devastated lives he wrought just for money.
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 03:39 PM
Oct 2014

Enthusiast

(50,983 posts)
50. K & R !!! If we only knew. I bet there are more of these miscreants around the nation.
Fri Oct 3, 2014, 05:26 AM
Oct 2014

Thank you, eridani.

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