Constitutional Law

Class Actions Target Corrupt Judges

Above the Law noted a new report about the Pennsylvania judges who plead guilty to sentencing kids to private detention centers for $2.6 million in kickbacks. In addition to facing up to seven years in prison, Judges Mark Ciaverella and Michael Conahan are now also defendants in a pair of class action law suits.

The federal RICO class actions have been filed by several hundred children and families claiming to be victims of the corrupt judges.

Federal prosecutors assert that, while no charges have yet been filed against representatives of the detention centers involved, the investigation is ongoing. At least one owner of a detention center has maintained his innocence. Lawyers for the owner have released a letter claiming that the owner was a victim of the judges’ demands for payment.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 17, 2009 (boomark / email).