Miscellaneous

Whatever with the youth of tomorrow when I can get some serious scrilla in my own pocket!

When any governmental agency runs smoothly, you know that there must be shenanigans afoot. And so it was with one of the Wilkes-Barre, PA juvenile courts, where "[y]oungsters were brought before judges withou a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses." Stole loose change from a car? That's a lock-up. Possess some drug paraphernalia? That's a lock-up. Write a prank note? You better believe that's a lock-up.

And the source of this was, of course, money -- two of the judges in the courtroom took millions of dollars in kickbacks to send kids to private youth detention centers. Nobody at either of the detention centers have been charged, yet, although both judges have been charged and removed from the bench.

(Hat tip to Elizabeth who was left speechless by the story. Understandable.)

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