Talk:Kids for cash scandal

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Scope of the article[edit]

I am hoping to get an idea of where the end of "kids for cash" and the beginning of a wider corruption scandal within Luzerne County are to be found. It is obvious that the activities at the courthouse went beyond the "kids for cash" scheme. I have read for example about insurance litigation issues from over ten years ago [1]. There is also the disciplinary case of Judge Lokuta, which figures somewhere here but is not yet mentioned in the article. For starters, I think the minor pleas of some of the officials in the county that are unrelated directly to "kids for cash" (kfc?) should not stay in this article. The major problem I have had trouble with is finding biographical information about Conahan, who appears to be the "heavy" in the county over the last several years, based on much of what I have found about him. Sswonk (talk) 03:39, 27 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You have a point, I would delete the last three defendants I listed. There is an article on Conahan who has not been as vocal as his partner in crime. http://www.citizensvoice.com/news/lokuta_conahan_was_courthouse_king. We can confine the article to the defendants who were directly related to the kids for cash. Judge Lokuta should definetly be in the article, she is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office pursuant to an order.Mysteryquest (talk) 03:45, 27 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Right, that is what I am thinking. What bothers me is that I can't find anything on Conahan similar to Ciavarella that could be used to start his article and get rid of the nasty red link in the lead. By the way, did you see that the article is up for being listed on the main page in DYK? It passed, I don't know how long it will be before it will appear. That puts a little pressure on us to tighten it up in one regard, but it should also provide some relief as several dozen people, possible hundreds, will read it after that occurs. Meanwhile, I propose putting Lokuta in the "Investigation" section, sort of clarifying how the investigation broadened and possibly was blown wide open during her cooperation with the FBI. Sswonk (talk) 03:53, 27 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Regarding the topic of the article, I think that "kids for cash" should be one article, and a new article possibly titled "Luzerne County corruption probe" should be made in the future to handle the wider charges. However, I think it is not yet known how far that will be taken. I am going to write up something for Lokuta right now and take a break for the evening, let me know if you have any additional thoughts. Sswonk (talk) 04:22, 27 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I guess that makes sense. There is another person who is involved who is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's office, she worked in the probation department and her name escapes me, but I saw her in one of the news releases on the U.S. Attorney's site. If you can't find any biographical information on Conahan I wouldn't worry about it too much. I did read material that pointed out that he was somewhat of an introvert especially compared to Ciaverella who can't seem to keep his mouth shut, even when it contributes to his own peril. The article pointed out the irony in two persons with such diametrically opposed personalities, become such good friends. What is DYK?Mysteryquest (talk) 19:04, 27 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Off topic chat

This event completely invalidates the criminal justice system in America, as there is absolutely nothing to restrict the private-prison interests from supporting a candidate for judge's campaign(s), Or- in a much worse situation, supporting a presidential candidates campaign- on the condition that (if elected) they'll nominate a supreme court justice who is 'friendly' to the prison's cause. Also, the fact that the FBI's probe into the scandal was never made public- raises the question of whether or not many more, possibly even All, private-prison companies and facilities have been involved in similar practices. After-all, the decision on the part of a legislature to privatize the prison system- almost surely came as a result of a deliberate lobbying effort by the corrections industry- and any campaign contributions, as well as donations to Political Action Campaigns- need to be considered as possible corruption and Bribery cases. The $700,000+ sum of the "kick-backs" paid to just one of the judges involved- points to a probability that this is not an isolated incident. Also, coupled with the Black-Mailing and public Slandering of another judge (Anne H. Lokuta) which resulted in her removal from the bench- (on completely frivolous charges)- the utter disregard for the well-being of children/adolescents, major civil rights violations, and the Violation of his Oath to uphold the PA State and U.S. Constitutions: Makes "Justice", "Law", and "Punishment" look like it's the "Mafia Trinity". LarchOye (talk) 14:57, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed renaming[edit]

If there are no objections, I propose renaming this article to "Kids for Cash scandal" (capital 'C'). --CliffC (talk) 01:22, 22 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

CSI NY[edit]

Part of the story in CSI: New York season 8 episode 8 is surely also based on this, unfortunately all I've found so far is the source which while it does say something similar, I'm not sure if it's really an R[S http://www.csifiles.com/content/2012/07/review-csi-new-york-crossroads/]. Nil Einne (talk) 12:37, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Update Needed[edit]

I found this article while looking for info on the Kids For Cash documentary movie. It soon became clear that the article needs a serious update, particularly given the movie which is likely to increase traffic to the page. It's generally a good article (IMHO, of course), and a very important topic. I was a juvenile court psychologist and have seen hundreds if adolescents for psychotherapy, many of whom were involved in the juvenile justice system. A good system can make a huge positive difference in the the life of a young person. And a corrupt or incompetent system can ruin kids' (and their families') lives. So if you can contribute to updating this article, please do! - Mark D Worthen PsyD 21:22, 8 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Mark. For many of us - including those outside the USA, e.g. me - articles like this seem mostly to indicate a horrifically broken system.
I realise this is not necessarily the best way of looking at it.
Either way, the route to improving this article is to find outside (independent) reliable sources that talk about the topic. Even if sometimes those are local newspapers of questionable values. Start there, then move to better sources. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 22:17, 8 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, our criminal justice system needs many improvements to be sure. Re: the article, I should have written something like, "I don't have time to work on the article myself, therefore if you have knowledge about the scandal...." I did write to a couple of sources to maybe recruit a new editor or three. :o) Mark D Worthen PsyD 12:37, 10 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Please name the facilities on this page[edit]

I was asked by a member of the public if the detention centers involved in this scandal were known to be abusive. I quickly came to this article to find the names of the centers, expecting to research further from there, but the centers aren't mentioned by name. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be mentioned... ;-/

Long story short, they can be tracked via: http://citizensvoice.com/news/federal-judge-approves-mericle-settlement-for-kids-for-cash-1.1416602 http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Federal-prosecutors-seek-stiffer-sentence-for-Robert-Mericle,102423 https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights-criminal-law-reform/perhaps-saddest-profit-motive-ever

and finally to: http://www.midatlanticyouth.com/facilities/luzerne.shtml http://www.midatlanticyouth.com/facilities/western.shtml

I'd make the edit myself, but I know from experience SOME people will take exception to it and make an edit war out of it...

Regards, Marty Gottesfeld - Community Organizer, #ShutLoganRiver - www.shutdownloganriver.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mgottesfeld (talk • contribs) 21:18, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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Review request for condensed "lead" section[edit]

@Activist and HangingCurve:: I posted the message below a couple of weeks ago but received no response. You two seem to have an interest in this page, and I wanted to build some editorial consensus before posting my updates. Any feedback is appreciated. Moreclearerest (talk) 10:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like a winner. HangingCurveSwing for the fence 21:05, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@Moreclearerest:, @HangingCurve:, I took a look and you're absolutely right. A good deal of material needs to removed from the lede. I made one correction to the current lede and trust you to reduce the text appropriately, but take care to preserve any pertinent, unduplicated material in the sections below. Thank you for your efforts. Thank you also for asking, by the way. This is a first for me in 12 years at Wikipedia. Activist (talk) 00:19, 5 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@Activist:, @HangingCurve:, Thanks for the prompt replies and helpful correction. I'll move the draft version I created earlier to the live page. If you have any questions, feel free to open this thread back up. It's good to know civility hasn't disappeared entirely from the Internet. Cheers. Moreclearerest (talk) 08:12, 5 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hello,

Per Wikipedia guidelines, the lead section of this article is too long. It should be no more than two or three paragraphs. The length and frequent revisions of the introduction also make it hard to grasp the narrative. (I came here for additional information after watching the documentary.) I usually edit and update lead sections without peer review (because these edits are generally minor) but thought I'd drop my proposed revision here since this subject is a bit controversial.

My goal is to make it easier for someone to wrap their head around the core aspects of the scandal quickly. Any details that were reduced/removed from the lead section already appear elsewhere in the article, so the information is still there. I tried to source original court documents whenever possible. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.

Moreclearerest (talk) 10:48, 16 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Moreclearerest: Thanks very much for asking. I'm up to my neck in 'gators, but I'll see if I can't get to this later today. Activist (talk) 17:24, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]
For the documentary, see Kids for Cash.

The "kids for cash" scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[1] In 2008, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were accused of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at for-profit detention centers.[2]

Ciavarella disposed thousands of children to extended stays in youth centers for offenses as trivial as mocking an assistant principal on Myspace or trespassing in a vacant building.[3] After a judge rejected an initial plea agreement in 2009,[4][5] a federal grand jury returned a 48-count indictment.[6] In 2010, Conahan pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison.[7] Ciavarella opted to go to trial the following year. He was convicted on 12 of 39 counts and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison.[8]

In the wake of the scandal, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania overturned hundreds of adjudications of delinquency in Luzerne County.[9] The Juvenile Law Center filed a class action lawsuit against the judges and numerous other parties,[10] and the Pennsylvania state legislature created a commission to investigate juvenile justice problems in the county.[11]

Article doesn't adequately described what happened[edit]

Given recent news about the scandal, I thought I'd check this page to understand exactly what happened - when did the kickbacks start? Who were the people involved on the prison side? When and how were deals made? Instead the article is entirely about the investigation and criminal process for the judges involved. 203.206.73.20 (talk) 02:25, 21 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ Urbina, Ian (2009-03-27). "Despite Red Flags, Judges Ran Kickback Scheme for Years". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  2. ^ "United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit No. 11-3277: United States of America v. Mark Ciavarella, Jr., Appellant" (PDF). United States Courts. May 24, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ Chen, Stephanie (2009-02-23). "Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. ^ "Federal Officials Announce the Filing of Federal Fraud and Tax Charges Against Two Luzerne County Common Pleas Courts Judges in an On-going Public Corruption Probe". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ Kosik, Edwin (July 30, 2009). "Memorandum and Order, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania" (PDF). The New York Times. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ Morgan-Besecker, Terrie (September 10, 2009). "Ex-judges hit with 48 counts". Times Leader. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ Staff Report (September 23, 2011). "Former Luzerne judge Conahan sentenced to 17.5 years". The Times Tribune. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ "Pennsylvania judge gets 28 years in 'kids for cash' case". msnbc.com. 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  9. ^ Associated Press (March 26, 2009). "Court Tosses Convictions Of Corrupt Judge". CBS News. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ "H.T. et al. v. Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr., et al. | Juvenile Law Center". jlc.org. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  11. ^ PRNewswire (August 7, 2009). "Governor Rendell Signs Bill Creating Commission to Probe Juvenile Justice System". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-01-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

In popular culture[edit]

The movie The Archer is very loosely based on this, i.e., the set up (kick-backs, abuse, corruption) seems to be based on this, though the action part is something else. The movie ends with a statement about the scandal. Kdammers (talk) 20:50, 16 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This could be a good addition to the article if you can identify and cite a reliable source for your suggestion. It cannot be added to Wikipedia based on your personal impression or observation about the connection to the movie, no matter how valid. PDGPA (talk) 21:41, 16 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Is this a reliable source? https://filmschoolrejects.com/review-the-archer-bc61efb44f3c/Kdammers (talk) 03:07, 20 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Looks perfectly reasonable to me. Just go ahead and make your edit. After all, Wikipedia is "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit." Use the "cite web" template from the drop-down insert source menu to help you enter the reference. PDGPA (talk) 03:23, 20 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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