[Assam] US judges jailed kids for cash

[Chan Mahanta]

I think we are missing the point.

Bad things can and do happen everywhere.  That is a constant. The 
variables that makes the difference are:

	A: The frequency of occurrence. Is it an exception or the 
rule? How widespread is it?
	B:  Ability to correct what is wrong. Is there 
accountability? Is the system able to  take
	corrective action to prevent it in the future?

So, to cite bad things happening in the USA , similar to what might 
happen in India, and thus implying that they are either the same or 
that their is no difference , will be living in denial to put it 
mildly. There are far less flattering ways to describe the tack.













At 12:44 PM -0800 2/12/09, Krishnendu Chakraborty wrote:
>And I thought it happens only in India :)
>
>---
>
>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US-judges-jailed-kids-for-cash/articleshow/4120878.cms
>
>
>New low: US judges jailed kids for cash
>13 Feb 2009, 0030 hrs IST, AP
>
>  Print   Email   Discuss  Share  Save  Comment Text:
>
>
>
>WILKES-BARRE (PASADENA): For years, the juvenile court system in 
>Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought 
>before judges 
>without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, 
>and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses.
>
>The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench. In 
>one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two 
>Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of 
>dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth 
>detention centers.
>
>"I've never encountered, and I don't think that we will in our 
>lifetimes, a case where literally thousands of kids' lives were just 
>tossed aside in order for a couple of judges to make some money," 
>said Marsha Levick, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile 
>Law Center, which is representing hundreds of youths sentenced in 
>Wilkes-Barre.
>
>Prosecutors say Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael 
>Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in 
>lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA 
>Child Care LLC. The judges were charged on January 26 and removed 
>from the bench by the Pennsylvania supreme court.
>
>No company officials have been charged, but the investigation is 
>still going on. The high court, meanwhile, is looking into whether 
>hundreds or even thousands of sentences should be overturned and the 
>juveniles' records expunged.
>
>Among the offenders were teenagers who were locked up for months for 
>stealing loose change from cars, writing a prank note and possessing 
>drug paraphernalia. Many had never been in trouble before. Some were 
>imprisoned even after probation officers recommended against it. The 
>judges are scheduled to plead guilty to fraud Thursday in federal 
>court. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven 
>years behind bars. 
>
>
>
>      
>
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