Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal.
Submitted by Jim Brown on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 09:18
(CNN) -- At a friend's sleepover more than a year ago, 14-year-old Phillip Swartley pocketed change from unlocked vehicles in the neighborhood to buy chips and soft drinks. The cops caught him.
There was no need for an attorney, said Phillip's mother, Amy Swartley, who thought at most, the judge would slap her son with a fine or community service.
But she was shocked to find her eighth-grader handcuffed and shackled in the courtroom and sentenced to a youth detention center. Then, he was shipped to a boarding school for troubled teens for nine months.
"Yes, my son made a mistake, but I didn't think he was going to be taken away from me," said Swartley, a 41-year-old single mother raising two boys in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
CNN does not usually identify minors accused of crimes. But Swartley and others agreed to be named to bring public attention to the issue.
As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/23/pennsylvania.corrupt.jud...
It's almost as bad here in Pasco County, Florida
My son lost his job last year and let his auto insurance lapse! Oh HORRORS! He had just gotten a new job and didn't know that as a result of letting his insurance lapse (he's 22) that his driver's license was suspended so when he got pulled over on his way to work at 5 A.M. the cop let him off easy; he had to leave his car parked and walk home but was very lucky he wasn't ARRESTED! He went to court and was fined over $260, plus court costs, and was PUT ON 6 MONTHS of PROBATION at $55/month for the cost of supervision, PLUS court costs!
I am NOT condoning his action, but since when is being POOR AGAINST THE LAW? If you don't have money for an attorney, you are SCREWED! The Publice Defenders only sell you out to the prosecutors office and pretend they did something wonderful for you and charge you for it!
This WAS his first and ONLY brush with the law, it's wasn't like he had been driving drunk or anything serious, no accident involved. The cop originally pulled him over cause he was on the road at 5 AM and wanted to know why he was out at that time and where he was going!
PAPERS PLEASE!
"If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."
-Samuel Adams-
I read about this not too
I read about this not too long ago when the news first got around about the corrupt Judges.
Maybe all these kids who were sentenced so the judges could get their kickbacks should be entitled to restitution paid to them by the judges and any others who were involved in the scheme.
Then to top it off, the judges who were trusted to do right by the community should be sentenced themselves - they should be made to serve the amount of time that they made all these kids do. If it all adds up to 15 years worth of time... then let them have it!
Luzerne County Manager/Chief Clerk
Doug Pape
200 North River St.
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
Ph No.: (570) 825-1635
Email: Doug.Pape@luzernecounty.org
"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it."
--Jane Wagner
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
Luzerne County Court Administrator Pleads Guilty
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Federal investigators say Luzerne County's Court Administrator abused his powers for a decade. They say William Sharkey stole thousands of dollars in confiscated gambling money. Today he appeared in federal court, weeks after a plea agreement was worked out.
Luzerne County Court Administrator William Sharkey pleaded guilty in federal court in Scranton this morning to one count of embezzlement.
Sharkey admitted he stole more than $70,000 in funds seized from illegal gambling operations in a 10-year period. His plea hearing took about 20 minutes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29238819/
"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it."
--Jane Wagner
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
I am compelled to do something about this...
I've contacted "judicial watch" and have urged them to look into this case and not let this "devils den" of criminals go unpunished. It doesn't just stop with the kids, they are on common citizens backs too. Just look at Chessie.
I'm not going to stop until something is done in Luzerne County. Although two of the judges have been caught and sentenced, there are more lawyers, and law enforcement, county commissioners, and of course the facilities owners, in on this. In the absence of hanging, they should go to jail too.
"In the absence of hanging."
I'm normally against capital punishment---but, to me, this is the
kind of case where it is appropriate. You know that this had to
have caused children to be molested. You can't get mad enough
about this.
Luke 17:2
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
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Eerie.
That versed came across my mind while reading about this as well.
And it's the same type of judges who ruled against the autism..
.
......vaccine connection about 2 weeks ago.
They always look out for themselves in conjunction with the huge corporations and leave the kiddies to suffer and/or be injured.
.
www.vaclib.org
.
.
www.vaclib.org
Sickening
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"Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the children of God." - Matthew 5:9
My liberty-minded home base of thought:
www.ponderthis.net
I live in Luzerne County
and let me tell you, this is just the tip of a monster iceberg here. I happened to butt heads with two of the County Commisioners over a hot dog cart I had at the Courthouse and ended up with an attempt on my life, One of the individuals implicated was a cops brother and he was driving the cops personal car. After this occurred the cop came after me himself and ended up having police from 5 neighboring localities show up to back him up. It then became known that the cop wasn't even a legal officer due to his lack of certification however the D.A. appealed the local decision to appelate court and got the case reinstated. Although the "cop" admitted on the stand that he wasn't legal the "jury" still voted to convict me of resisting arrest from a fraudulant cop. Oh yeah...two days before trial my lawyer walked off the case so I was on my own. They can even fix juries and intimidate lawyers here. Theres a saying around here about the coal miners mentality, but I choose to think its the coal barons mentality at work. The DA that pursued this case was just elected Judge due to his daddies large and powerful pocketbook even though he was on the watch as DA while the "Judges" were sentencing kids to a jail they had a hidden financial stake in. All we have gotten is Federal charges and a strange and eerie silence from our local prosecutor as well as our state attorney general.
If not us than who?
Chessie...
Have you got the means to appeal your case? It is obvious that you have been railroaded by an already corrupt legal system as evidenced by the "children for sale" scam in your county. We can't let this die. My father was a coal miner, a good father of 12 and had more common sense in his fingernail than any of those "learned men." Don't let them name call you. Use us! We can figure this out. I'm not a lawyer but, I can read and I am damned tired of the corruption at every level of government! We can smoke these guys out and get them indited.
Already appealed
but the Appelate Courts are in on this too. When my case was initially dismissed and the DA appealed the dismissal the Superior Court handed down a decision that reinstituted the case. I was told by one of the most prominant attorneys in the county that the opinion wasn't worth the paper it was written on but that he could not represent me. I appealed the guilty verdict on my own but the Appealate Court refused to deal with the issues and instead concentrated on critizing my form. A few other facts, I had one of the best appelate attorneys in the county working on my case when the charges were first dismissed and the DA appealed. When the opinion came out against me I instructed him to appeal to the State Supreme Court. Somehow it slipped his mind and he never filed.
This place is a mess. One of the only Judges who stood against these legalized gangsters was just brought up on charges instigated by the Judges who were just indicted. Using a powerful Philadelphia lawyer, Richard Sprague, they managed to get this one and only woman Judge booted off the bench. Theres much evidence of perjury at her hearings but it seems the State won't reconsider her case.
If not us than who?
I'm speechless
Libera me, let the truth break, what my fears make--Leslie Phillips
We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people,
we need to get good people to restrain bad laws. --
--G.K. Chesterton
The devils and demons
are swarming all over our country. What next?
WOW - Unbelievable
I am speachless...
It can't be...can it?
It can't be...can it?
It is a shameful disgrace that...
these so called "judges" have started a market in humans for the penal system. This is the same as pimping human beings for money. This to me is the worse of the worse, Betrayal of trust. Misuse of office. Moral shit heads. This also goes on in the family courts. Miss a child support payment and you can be tossed in the jail without due process. Up to five years in federal prison for being broke. Go figure. I would put the noose on the necks of any of these animals. You know what though...this will blow over and the crap will just keep on coming...truly sad to be an American today.
What a shame! I can't help
What a shame! I can't help but feel as times get tougher, there will be greater and greater levels of corruption.
This is what happens when we privatize this kind of stuff
"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it."
--Jane Wagner
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
TN - This does open a different angle privatization
I used to be for privitazation but now I am swinging hard the other way. Especially in the penal system.
It can't be...can it?
It can't be...can it?
This is absolutely horrible!
These people involved need more than jail time. They need to be hung up outside the courthouse for all to see what happens to horrible people like this.
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"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it."
--Jane Wagner
A Republic, If You Can Keep It