Clean slate for corrupt judge's young victims in Pennsylvania

[babsbunny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/27/corrupt-judge-pennsylvania-victims


Hundreds of teenagers who were subjected to months in custody by a corrupt judge have had their convictions quashed by Pennsylvania's highest court in a judicial scandal dubbed "kids for cash".

The state's supreme court ruled that the judge, Mark Ciavarella, had violated the constitutional rights of the teenagers who came before his court, by failing to ensure they were properly legally represented.

Last month Ciavarella and another senior juvenile judge, Michael Conahan, pleaded guilty to having taken $2.6m (£1.78m) from the co-owner and builder of a private detention centre. The judges were accused of setting up a system to ensure a steady flow of children committed to custody in the care of the private firm in return for kickbacks.