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Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash

Two Pennsylvania juvenile court judges are being prosecuted for corruption in a shocking scandal involving corruption, abuse of law, and what amounts to government-sponsored child abuse. Since December 2002, they allegedly sentenced children who were denied legal representation and fair trials to detention in private jails from which the judges received kickbacks.

The two Luzerne County [1] judges, Michael Conohan [2], have reached a plea bargain in which they admit to receiving more than $2.6 million in income from their corrupt actions. The judges face at least seven years imprisonment, but federal sentencing could land them in prison for up to 25 years.


The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is reviewing juvenile court convictions in Luzerne County from 2003 onwards to determine if sentences should be altered, new hearings are warranted, and legal records should be expunged. But the damage to the thousands of kids affected by this corrupt system may haunt them for the rest of their lives.

During the reign of these corrupt judges, more than 5000 children were found guilty and more than 2000 detained in private jails. Many of their crimes were very minor but resulted in extreme sentences. One boy found guilty of stealing a $4 jar of spices was sentenced to 9 months in private jail. Another caught exploring an abandoned building was sentenced to several weekends of correctional camp.

Moreover, some of the kids were sentenced to jail for actions which may not have even been criminal. In at least one case, the judges appeared to be enforcing censorship by the government. In 2007, Ciavarella sentenced teenager Hillary Transue to 3 months in jail for making fun of her high school assistant principal in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on a MySpace web page.

Robert J. Powell, a former co-owner of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers to which many of these kids were sent, claims he was a victim of extortion by the judges. The kids were sent to his facilities, and he claims he was told by the judges that he would be required to pay them in exchange.

When they weren’t busy abusing kids and violating their rights for cash, the judges allegedly traded cash for probations for serious offenders convicted of violent crimes. Judge Peter Paul Olskewski has issued orders to send several of these kids back to prison.

Showing the true colors of the corrupt Luzerne County court system, FBI investigation of the courts nabbed a third corruption suspect. County Court Administrator William T. Sharkey was charged with embezzling more than $70,000 in seized gambling money between 1998 and 2008. He’s also agreed to a plea bargain and could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Hundreds of families in Luzerne County are joining a class-action lawsuit against the two judges. Meanwhile, political commentators are citing the actions of these judges as reasons why the US still needs the death penalty. As NJ Voices writer Paul Mulshine puts it:

In my ideal world, everyone involved in a prosecution like this, from the school officials to the arresting officers to the judges, would at the very least be fired and forced to pay restitution. But the judges who took the kickbacks would pay the ultimate price. Those who use the power of government to deprive others of their liberty should be aware that if they abuse that power they may lose their lives.

Thomas Jefferson also wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

These two would make wonderful fertilizer.

It’s our opinion that government abuse will not stop until the penalties for misconduct far outweigh the gains. But with widespread immunity from prosecution for many civil servants, including court and CPS employees, there is a long way to go to keep such abuses from recurring.

Further Reading

Judges Accused of Jailing Kids for Cash [3]

Suit Names 2 Judges Accused in a Kickback Case [4]

Corrupt judges paid to detain youths in private jails [5]

Detention scheme was lucrative, harmful [6]

Pennsylvania judges plead guilty to fraud in kickback scheme [7]

Corruption: Probations Revoked/Olszewski Speaks Out [8]

COURTHOUSE SCANDAL Luzerne County’s court administrator to appear in federal court to face embezzlement charges [9]

Why we still need the death penalty [10]

18 Comments (Open | Close)

18 Comments To "Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash"

#1 Comment By RHS On February 17, 2009 @ 5:50 am

I fear our society/civilization is in a hopeless condition; just as we’ve seen the Roman Empire… When most members, forming said, are so debased, degraded, low-class criminals, then we should know that this civilization is seeing it’s end times; wherein the society implodes/collapses’ and becomes utterly dysfunctional. When the leadership and/or ‘leading’ citizens, who are supposed to lead by example, setting the high mark of a perfect leader, have become no more than common, garden-variety thieves, rogues and criminals, please be assured that end is and remains always near…

It must be said and known that it is the prime duty, of our ‘leaders’, to protect, at all cost, the citizenry from the criminal elements; for when there is no peace and fear becomes predominant, any and all progress stops. Therefore all involved should be killed, immediately, if proper and true justice and compassion ever was to be found, in this moribund ‘society’…

Best of luck everyone!!

#2 Pingback By Man Falsely Convicted of Child Sexual Abuse Awarded $2 Million from New York State | angiemedia On April 23, 2009 @ 9:48 am

[…] We think they won’t learn their lesson until the government employees responsible for such atrocities are imprisoned, fined, and/or executed for knowingly and wrongfully destroying the lives of others in violation of US and state laws. Execution of a government employee for misconduct may at first glance seem extreme, but consider the case of the two Pennsylvania judges who wrongly sent thousands of children to private jails for $2.6 million in kickbacks. Many have noted that government employees like these deserve the death penalty for the severity and repeated damage they caused. (See our previous story on this Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash.) […]

#3 Pingback By California Democrat Jim Beall Supports Child Abuse | angiEmedia On May 7, 2009 @ 12:01 am

[…] to private jails without fair trials in exchange for $2.6 million in kickbacks. (See our article Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash.) These judges considered their personal financial gain to be more important than the lives of […]

#4 Pingback By US Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment | angiEmedia On May 8, 2009 @ 5:05 pm

[…] the case Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash, this wasn’t some misunderstanding of the law or political differences. It was a case of […]

#5 Pingback By Governments and Rent-A-Cops Harass Photographers | angiEmedia On June 29, 2009 @ 12:29 am

[…] It’s clear that protection of rights requires government officials who act wrongly to at a minimum be re-trained and when appropriate punished and/or terminated from their jobs. My personal opinion is that government officials who are in law enforcement and courts should be held to a high standard. Otherwise, we end up with atrocities ranging from minor like this one to major like the Pennsylvania judges who took $2.6 million in bribes to toss children into private jails by violating…. […]

#6 Pingback By Father Imprisoned 20 Years on Fake Child Sex Abuse Charges | angiEmedia On September 22, 2009 @ 3:46 pm

[…] Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash […]

#7 Pingback By Crimes Against Children: “Zero Tolerance” and “Kids for Cash” | angiEmedia On October 29, 2009 @ 6:33 am

[…] Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash […]

#8 Pingback By Luzerne County Bribes 7 Year Old Boy for Arson “Confession” | angiEmedia On October 30, 2009 @ 6:57 pm

[…] Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for Cash […]

#9 Pingback By Vancouver Police Brutalize Innocent Civilians | angiEmedia On March 8, 2010 @ 6:45 pm

[…] cops. Consider one of the most outrageous judicial misconduct cases in the United States, that of corrupt Pennsylvania juvenile court judges who over the course of several years systematically deprived thousands of children of their due […]

#10 Pingback By Vancouver Police Brutalize Innocent Civilians | copblock On June 2, 2010 @ 2:38 pm

[…] cops. Consider one of the most outrageous judicial misconduct cases in the United States, that of corrupt Pennsylvania juvenile court judges who over the course of several years systematically deprived thousands of children of their due […]

#11 Pingback By A Judge’s View of “Best Interests of the Children” | angiEmedia On July 7, 2010 @ 12:49 am

[…] across the United States. It is exemplified by the outstanding records of my esteemed colleagues Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan. They know that children are in our courts to enrich judges and our friends and have for many years […]

#12 Comment By One of Thousands On July 7, 2010 @ 12:57 am

People should realize this is no isolated incident. It’s happening in every courthouse in every state, county, and city. And only you can prevent it — hire a lawyer to go after your judges. Call the FBI and state authorities with any suspicions.

This is but the tip of a very grotesque and corrupt iceberg sapping millions from taxpayer revenues into the small minds of corrupt judges. Your democracy and community depends on a reputable judiciary. Ours, sadly, has submerged below the level of corrupt into tyranny. America has 1% of the world’s population, but 10% of its prisoners, more than China, Russia, Israel, Europe, Japan, and North Korea –>combined<. People — stop them now before it's you they come for.

#13 Pingback By Richard Fine Complaint Against Judge David Yaffe, Sheriff Leroy “Lee” Baca, and Others Filed with US Attorney | angiEmedia On July 27, 2010 @ 10:00 am

[…] are routinely closed to the public. This readily enables severe abuses of justice as happened to thousands of children in Pennsylvania who were deprived of their rights and falsely imprisoned in pr…. While “officers of the court” (i.e. attorneys) who witnessed these perversions of […]

#14 Pingback By American Judicial Terrorism May Lead to Widespread Violence | angiEmedia On August 4, 2010 @ 9:24 am

[…] and abusive judges like Sacramento’s Peter McBrien and Pennsylvania’s infamous duo of Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are directly responsible for much of the government’s terrorism against citizens. They […]

#15 Pingback By Ben Vonderheide Exposes Pennsylvania’s Abusive Child Profiteering Racket | angiEmedia On September 7, 2010 @ 6:05 am

[…] a particularly corrupt and abusive state as is evidenced by nearby Luzerne County’s extensive kids-for-cash court corruption scandal in which judges received payments for many years in return for violating the rights of children to […]

#16 Pingback By San Diego Custody Evaluators Generate Cash Flow by Victimizing Families Using Restraining Orders | angiEmedia On October 28, 2010 @ 11:36 pm

[…] Under FireCrimes Against Children: “Zero Tolerance” and “Kids for Cash”Corrupt Pennsylvania Courts Jail Kids for CashFiles on Stephen Doyne’s fraudulent credentials and other misconductDr. Emad Tadros and […]

#17 Pingback By Crimes Against Children: “Zero Tolerance” and “Kids for Cash” | angiEmedia On November 30, 2010 @ 5:47 am

[…] children from occurring again. In case you don’t recall, early in 2009 it was revealed that two juvenile court judges in the county violated the civil rights of thousands of children by denyin…. (from Editorial: The next steps in addressing the Luzerne County ‘cash for kids’ […]

#18 Pingback By Judge Diane E. Gibbons Confirms Herself An Enemy of Free Speech and Supporter of Abuse By Silencing The Psycho Ex Wife Website | angiEmedia On February 25, 2012 @ 2:15 am

[…] processes are available in Pennsylvania.Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is a corrupt state in which judicial abuse against children and judicial misconduct and felony crime is rampant and usually ignored by the […]