Lessons from "Kids for Cash," Part 1: Illegal Kickbacks Were Just the Tip of the Iceberg

On January 26, 2009, the United States Attorney shocked the world by announcing his intent to file criminal charges against two judges in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania for their involvement in our nation's most appalling judicial scandal, known as "kids for cash."

The judges, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, were accused of accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for sending children to two private, for-profit detention centers. Ciavarella served as the juvenile court judge in Luzerne County.

Yet the scope of the violations of children's rights in Luzerne County turned out to be more egregious than anyone could have imagined. Juvenile Law Center began investigating irregularities in Luzerne County's juvenile court in 2007, after receiving a call from an alarmed parent whose daughter had been sentenced to three months in a juvenile facility for creating a fake MySpace page for her assistant principal.

Our investigation led us to discover that, from 2003 to 2008, approximately 2,500 children had appeared before then-judge Ciavarella—over half of them without legal counsel. The children were quickly adjudicated delinquent (found guilty) for minor offenses, and many were immediately transferred to out-of-home juvenile justice placements, including the private, for-profit centers associated with the illegal kickbacks and payments scheme.

Moving quickly to address the situation, we petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in early 2008 to vacate the juveniles' adjudications of delinquency and expunge their records—but our petition was denied. It wasn't until 2009 when the U.S. Attorney alleged that Ciavarella and Conahan had accepted $2.6 million in kickbacks that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted our petition.

While the amount of money the judges accepted and concealed in this case was alarming, it is likely an anomaly that must not be allowed to obscure the equally disturbing and routine violations of the children's most basic constitutional rights. Their rights to counsel, to enter only knowing and voluntary guilty pleas, and to an unbiased and impartial judge were all ignored in Luzerne County.

But children's rights are violated every day in this country, through harsh "zero-tolerance" school discipline policies that push kids involved in minor or petty misconduct into the juvenile justice system; a similar disregard for children's constitutional rights; and the imposition of consequences from system involvement that follow kids for the rest of their lives. The financial and emotional costs of these violations are high, and we can no longer afford to let these issues go unaddressed.

Fortunately, the new film "Kids for Cash," from producer Robert May (who also produced the Oscar-winning film "Fog of War"), is a stunning reminder of the collective and systemic failures that paved the way for this scandal to occur—and that continue to affect youth in schools and courtrooms every day. The film, which hits theaters this month, is a wake-up call for every parent, judge, school superintendent, district attorney, and anyone who cares about children or the future of this nation. Find a theater near you or sign up to host a screening here.

Juvenile Law Center is launching a blog series to accompany the release of this important film that will take a more in-depth look at some of the issues that this film brings to light. Those issues include:

• Access to legal counsel for children
• Zero-tolerance school discipline policies
• The consequences of having a juvenile record
• The effects of trauma on youth and families
• The financial costs of system involvement on children, families, and taxpayers

Follow our blog every week in February and March to read more about these issues!

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKrOXdCEF5A]

Find out more about our role in uncovering the "kids-for-cash" scandal—and our ongoing efforts to seek justice for the children involved—here.