One Big Corrupt Problem: Unchecked Power of Supervisory Judges

"Kids for Cash" Court Scandal in Pennsylvania highlights New York's Corruptive Influence over Court Cases. CLICK HERE TO SEE NEW YORK'S ADMINISTRATIVE DISASTER - JUDGE FRANCIS A. NICOLAI - "The Sordid Nicolai History"

Judge: County jurists might have too much power
The Associated Press by MARK SCOLFORO - October 15, 2009

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A judge leading efforts to rebuild the system of juvenile justice in Luzerne County in the wake of the "kids for cash" corruption scandal said Wednesday that the state courts may be giving county supervisory judges too much unchecked power. Luzerne County President Judge Chester Muroski told the first public hearing of the 11-member Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice that he hopes state rules will be changed to give all judges in a given county more input into decisions. Muroski's two predecessors as his county's top judge, Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan, are facing federal charges that accuse them of taking kickbacks to place juvenile defendants in private youth detention centers. The commission was established by the Legislature, governor and state Supreme Court in August to examine the causes of the Luzerne County juvenile court scandal and to recommend changes to prevent it from recurring. "Simply put, it is my opinion that the absolute authority of the president judge over court affairs, and the abuse of power regarding same, coupled with the improper conduct of another judge, have been the principal causes of the scandal," Muroski said. President judges are elected by their fellow judges to serve as the top administrative officials for their counties' court systems.

"What happens now, it's all based upon who's running the show," Muroski said. Many of the actions Ciavarella and Conahan are alleged to have taken so they could profit personally occurred while each was serving as president judge, prosecutors have said. Ciavarella and Conahan held very few meetings of the county judges as a group and their decisions about where and how to place juveniles went unchecked by state and county officials. There were enough rumors swirling around the courthouse, however, that Muroski contacted the FBI in 2006 with his concerns. Muroski said there was wide support within his community, particularly among school officials and police officers, for Ciavarella's efforts to crack down on juvenile offenders. He said a 2004 series in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader about Ciavarella's sentencing patterns was a rare example of questions being raised about those practices before the judges were indicted in January, but that it "did not have legs" and Ciavarella won a retention election the next year. "The sound that resonated loudly from Ciavarella's courtroom was his no-nonsense, zero-tolerance approach, particularly in school cases," Muroski said. The commission also heard testimony Wednesday from House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, and state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, as well as experts in juvenile criminal procedure and attorney ethics. Superior Court Judge John M. Cleland, who chairs the commission, said it was self-evident that Luzerne's president judges exercised their authority improperly. "Whether that exists in other counties is something we're going to have to look at," Cleland said. The commission plans hearings in Luzerne County next month and must issue a report with recommendations by the end of May.

CLICK HERE TO SEE NEW YORK'S ADMINISTRATIVE DISASTER - JUDGE FRANCIS A. NICOLAI - "The Sordid Nicolai History"