The Associated Press/Citizens Voice by MICHAEL R. SISAK - December 29, 2009
Associated Press- Former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was charged last January with pocketing $2.8 million in kickbacks from the backers of for-profit juvenile detention facilities. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. sentenced one former juvenile defendant to six months at a detention facility based solely on the number of birds perched on the ledge outside his courtroom, attorneys for the defendant, now 21, charged in a lawsuit Monday. It was the latest legal twist in the kids-for-cash scandal that has swirled around Ciavarella, 59, and former Judge Michael T. Conahan, 56, since they were originally charged last January with pocketing $2.8 million in kickbacks from the backers of for-profit juvenile detention facilities. They have already been hit with civil-rights claims from hundreds of former juvenile defendants, and a 48-count racketeering indictment. Monday's lawsuit accused Ciavarella, the juvenile court judge from 1999 to May 2008, of inexplicably ordering Raul Clark to look at the ledge and tell him the number of birds he saw, the attorneys said. Clark, 14 at the time of the November 2002 hearing, counted six; Ciavarella sentenced him to six months of detention - one for each bird, according to the lawsuit. "Ciavarella's cavalier conduct demonstrates that what took place before him was nothing more than theater for (his) amusement," Clark's attorneys said. Clark, of White Haven, is seeking unspecified damages, plus attorneys' fees and other costs. His parents paid $3,837 between 2002 and 2005 for his incarceration and probation, and for a time the county garnished his mother's wages, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella and Conahan did not return telephone messages Monday. Attorneys for other defendants in the lawsuit, including the former judges' wives, the backers of the private detention facilities, and related businesses, did not return messages or declined to comment.
Last month, a federal judge ruled Ciavarella and Conahan can only be held liable for actions they took outside the courtroom to further their alleged kids-for-cash conspiracy. Ciavarella is immune, the federal judge said, from liability for any decisions he made while on the bench. U.S. Supreme Court rulings dating to 1871 have established judges cannot be sued for their actions from the bench, even if they act in bad faith, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo, said. Clark's attorney, Bridget E. Montgomery, did not return a telephone message. According to the lawsuit Monday, Clark appeared in Ciavarella's courtroom on two misdemeanor charges: violating a town curfew and possession of a small drug pipe. A police officer did not find any drugs or drug residue in the pipe, but Ciavarella misconstrued the charges and said in court that Clark had been charged with being intoxicated and possession of marijuana, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella never offered Clark an opportunity to enter a formal plea, only asking if he "did it," the lawsuit said. Clark started his sentence at the former Luzerne County-owned detention facility, but was transferred to Lackawanna County when Conahan ordered the facility closed, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella eventually sent Clark to two other facilities before releasing him to probation in May 2003. One missed curfew landed Clark at one of the private centers, Pa. Child Care in Pittston Township, for three days, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella ordered Clark back to Pa. Child Care in early 2004 after he tested positive for methamphetamine and PCP - an allegation Clark's attorneys denied. The positive drug test was motivated, Clark's attorneys said, by Ciavarella's push to keep the private detention centers filled. The probation department "switched urine samples" or "falsely reported the test findings in order to incarcerate Raul and to obtain more money" from the detention facilities and Clark's parents, the lawsuit said. msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061
Last month, a federal judge ruled Ciavarella and Conahan can only be held liable for actions they took outside the courtroom to further their alleged kids-for-cash conspiracy. Ciavarella is immune, the federal judge said, from liability for any decisions he made while on the bench. U.S. Supreme Court rulings dating to 1871 have established judges cannot be sued for their actions from the bench, even if they act in bad faith, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo, said. Clark's attorney, Bridget E. Montgomery, did not return a telephone message. According to the lawsuit Monday, Clark appeared in Ciavarella's courtroom on two misdemeanor charges: violating a town curfew and possession of a small drug pipe. A police officer did not find any drugs or drug residue in the pipe, but Ciavarella misconstrued the charges and said in court that Clark had been charged with being intoxicated and possession of marijuana, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella never offered Clark an opportunity to enter a formal plea, only asking if he "did it," the lawsuit said. Clark started his sentence at the former Luzerne County-owned detention facility, but was transferred to Lackawanna County when Conahan ordered the facility closed, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella eventually sent Clark to two other facilities before releasing him to probation in May 2003. One missed curfew landed Clark at one of the private centers, Pa. Child Care in Pittston Township, for three days, the lawsuit said. Ciavarella ordered Clark back to Pa. Child Care in early 2004 after he tested positive for methamphetamine and PCP - an allegation Clark's attorneys denied. The positive drug test was motivated, Clark's attorneys said, by Ciavarella's push to keep the private detention centers filled. The probation department "switched urine samples" or "falsely reported the test findings in order to incarcerate Raul and to obtain more money" from the detention facilities and Clark's parents, the lawsuit said. msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061
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13 comments:
This "judicial immunity" nonsense is something judges made up. There is nothing in the Constitution of New York or in the laws of this state that give judges or anyone involved in the judiciary immmunity.
I don't know about the laws in PA or if there is a Federal law that gives Federal Judges this benefit, but NY doesn't have it.
And isn't the function of the courts to apply the law?
i guess the lawsuit is against the state because he can not hold the judge accountable. I hope he wins BIG TIME this way the state of Pa and other states will think twice about theses judges and giving them the right to do whatever they want with no accountability. The laws are for the people by the people.
I wonder how much Bernadette E. Lupinetti, Esq. together with her gang in Orange County is making to sell children to abusers. Furthermore, I wonder if she makes extra for the case she fixed in order for the abuser to sexually exploited the children. This nut even have deals with CPS and the DA's office to help with the fix and block investigations of the case where children are been sexually exploited after she help fix the case.
From Judges to Police departments falsifying records/evidence to
harm others for their benefit, they all should be locked up and throw away the keys......
sounds like what is going on in Mazairz's district, Niagara County
If you ever mention a judge and any type of misconduct related to a federal case, in a federal deposition...the AG immediately demands a sealing of that part of the transcript...which in turn needs a federal judge's permission to unseal.....probably unlikely in NY state federal court. NY immunity is real and I assume it's purpose is to force the pltf to inform the non-investigatory corrupt CJC...if judges are criminal and unconstitutional.
Also they are generally prohibited from deposition testimony...as the atty states...it is too "complicated"( not sure what that means and neither does the atty) to examine them at this stage....and possibly even at trial...IMMUNITY at every level...unless they actually physically or sexualy attack you.
So it appears that both federal and state courts have invoked the non-existent judicial immunity situation...to protect the robe and it's need to prevent and protect..... public scrutiny and outrage!
Just thought the public reading this blog should be aware of what these judiciaries are doing behind closed doors...so the public doesn't ever know how covert judicial corruption is being maintained and how deeply it is embedded.
This exposure is a rare example of the collusion ..... and there is more to reveal, so when the judicial public outrage takes hold...you will have some prime and secretive weapons of knowledge.
Maybe we can call the public gatherings...."the "see' parties'.
I think it has to be mentioned,
judges criminal conduct, over and over again, if our lawyers were honest they would be the one's to report known criminal conduct and these judges would be held accountable......
since our lawyers are mainly self-gratifying and governed we need a Public Committee to govern our lawyers and judges to report all of those involved in the schemes and scams that have become part of our Court System.......
had any one of these children's lawyers reported these judges and the Judicial Review Board have taken action, this would not have happened..........
this is the empitamy of how gross our gov't agencies, paid by the gov't have become harming children.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
Sealing records once the judge gets caught, now that makes sense why they did that in the Town of Pendleton, Maziarz, Senators brother, you got caught!
thanks for the insight, just giving you some confirmation on the criminal activities of some judges and lawyers and court personnel!
hey guys can you backdate that by four years too
Town of Pendleton replies
"yes we can and we have so all your rights have just been denied"
Judges that abuse their power to the detriment of children, such as these judges have done, and profit financially from the incarceration of children whether it is in a detention home or, in the case of Columbia County, New York, foster homes, should be charged with human trafficking, nothing less.
Apparently, Sanctuary for Families has more money and political connections than God, and routinely uses "affiliate" Manhattan Mega-Law Firms of 10,000 plus lawyers, whom they "associate," to kick the living crap out of good men and fathers in Family Court, all for free, on behalf of sick, abusive, alcoholic, drug addicted and violent single mothers.
These corrupt mega law firms, while touting and bragging that they are "doing all the work for free" or "pro bono," are actually billing the Federal Government up the ass for thousands of fraudulent hours of work on behalf of these "abused women" con-artist females and Sanctuary for Families, under VAWA-based federal funding programs.
Hey, in a bad economy, fraudulently bilking the Federal Government with bogus and frivolous litigation, on behalf of "fake abused women," for hundreds of millions a dollars a year, ain't a bad racket.
The only problem is, no one cares that innocent babies and children are routinely getting killed, maimed, abused, neglected, and molested by some of these sick single unfit mothers because their good fathers have been completely shut out of their lives. This is all the while Sanctuary for Families subverts and sabotages the ACS investigative process, interrogates and intimidates witnesses, targets good fathers and witnesses for personal and professional destruction, engages in illegal ex-parte communication with Court appointed Court Officials and Judges, pays people off, bribes people, and destroys families, all for the sake of the almighty dollar, greed, and God knows what other type of benefits they get out of it.
Sick people indeed.
Tim Geithner, Henry Paulson, Benjamin Bernanke, and Goldman Sachs could take lessons from these fraudsters.
Why does Administration for Childrens' Services ("ACS") routinely sweep under the rug allegations of child abuse, child neglect, and child molestation (even when they are provided photographs, physical evidence, and tape recordings proof) whenever Sanctuary for Families starts representing the abusive mother?
Is it because Sanctuary for Families is an ultra militant Feminazi-lesbian organization which would rather neuter and castrate men and good fathers, rather than help ACS investigate and prosecute abusive, psychotic, alcoholic, violent, drug-addicted single mothers just because they are women?
Or is it also because Sanctuary for Families, a tax-exempt organization, routinely offers highly paid and cushy job offers to former ACS Investigators if they "play ball" and help illegally protect abusive and sick mothers who beat their kids?
Who can say for sure?
The Sexual Revolution is over.
Men LOST. Lesbian Feminazis WON.
New York, NY - Scathing Report Exposes Problems With ACS
http://www.vosizneias.com/10994/2007/08/09/new-york-ny-scathing-report-exposes/
New York, NY - The city issued a damning report on its child welfare agency today, calling for significant change in the way caseworkers look into allegations of abuse and neglect after 10 children died as a result of bungled investigations.
The city's Department of Investigation said it probed the deaths of 11 children and one who nearly drowned in an eight-month stretch. DOI said that in all the cases, the Administration for Children's Services was either investigating the parents or had completed its findings.
"In all but one of these cases, DOI has found that the investigations conducted by ACS were substantially inadequate and incomplete," the 141-page report said.
The sharply critical report outlines a troubling pattern of lying, incompetence, carelessness, ill-trained caseworkers and the grim details of the little children whose deaths likely could have been prevented, according to the report.
Mayor Bloomberg ordered the DOI investigation after widespread concern about ACS's ability to properly investigate and respond to abuse allegations.
The report said caseworkers routinely took the word of parents who denied the allegations. At other times, managers put pressure on caseworkers to "close cases within the state-mandated 60 day period at the expense of a thorough and thoughtful investigation of the allegations."
Shoddy work was rampant.
Recruiting new children into the Global Child Sex Trafficking/Pornography Industry, worth trillions of dollars worldwide, works this way in the United States (especially in the corrupt New York City Family Courts):
A Prostitute, usually coming from this same industry, entraps and has a child with a wealthy but naive father who she then divorces and makes him pay a fortune in mandatory Child Support, about 21% of his income a year for 21 years.
All the while, she provokes and instigates him repeatedly until he reacts and she can then obtain Orders of Protection against him, so he can never even see his own kids, but still pays a fortune in support.
Usually some type of Domestic Violence Women's group will represent that con-artist woman/prostitute for free, said group routinely staffed with Pedophiles and Sexual Deviants who also support and actively partake in the Global Child Sex Trafficking Industry. Some of these "agencies" even are so bold as to have a "wing" of their organization devoted to "stopping or preventing child sex trafficking." (The Lady Doth Protest Too Much - William Shakespeare) to further obfuscate and cover their tracks and true intentions.
This is all the while the poor SOB Father has to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for lawyers who always lose, owing to the above, and the following:
The Family Court Judges in New York City and the Law Guardian chosen in these child custody cases (and the Court Appointed Forensic Psychologists) are also Perverts, Pedophiles, and they support and participate in the Global Child Sex Trafficking/Pornography Industry, and may even be willing and active participants.
The Family Court Judge and Law Guardian are literally hand picked by the "Domestic Violence Women's Lobbying Group" to ensure that those kids never ever see their Fathers (who can protect them) again, by repeatedly and consistently disallowing those Fathers to see their children, with less and less time, until finally the Father's Parental Rights are terminated for good, leaving those poor defenseless children in the sole custody of that vile, drug addicted, alcoholic, violent, deranged, descendent of the child porn industry prostitute mother, who now, free to do so without any prevention by the estranged and removed Biological Father - SURPRISE! sells those kids off to the highest bidder in the Global Child Sex Trafficking/Pornography Industry, again, worth trillions of dollars a year.
And then the cycle repeats itself a generation later with those "sold off children" doing it to their own kids, their souls having been lost forever.
Meanwhile the FBI, ICE, DHS, and other Federal and State Law Enforcement Agencies do absolutely nothing (many of them may be pedophiles, partaking of this child sex industry as well).
These "law enforcement agencies" will tell you "it's not in their Mandate" or "there's nothing we can do," and will tell you to refer it to the Administration for Childrens Services ("ACS") which is equally if not more corrupt, also staffed with incompetents and corrupt caseworkers, and at the higher levels perverts and pedophiles, and also just as beholden and owned by the Global Child Sex Trafficking/Pornography Industry as the specially selected Family Court Judges and Law Guardians.
All ACS ever does is sweep legitimate allegations and complaints about the above under the rug, while attacking and vilifying the Complainant.
In other words, there is a Grand Conspiracy of Global Child Sex Trafficking, completely fool proof and airtight, and no one can (or will) do a goddamned thing about it.
If you try and complain about it, or try and launch an investigation into it, both you and your world will be crushed by the awesome money, power, political connections, lobbying groups, and "professionals" in charge of maintaining and preserving this "industry."
Count on it.
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