Hundreds of convictions reversed in Pennsylvania

Hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks to send kids to privately owned detention centers were overturned Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youth offenders who appeared in his courtroom without attorneys between 2003 and 2008.

In one of the most egregious cases of judicial corruption ever seen, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, with taking $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by Pennsylvania Child Care LLC and sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care LLC, between 2003 and 2006.

The pieces of crap [judges] pled guilty to fraud last month and face sentences of more than seven years in prison.

Berks County Senior Judge Arthur Grim was appointed to review Ciavarella's and Conahan's cases.

The high court approved Grim's recommendation that the records of low-level juvenile offenders who appeared in Ciavarella's courtroom be expunged - a group Grim said numbers "easily into the hundreds". Grim next will review cases involving more serious juvenile offenders.

Under Pennsylvania law, a juvenile may not waive his or her right to an attorney unless the decision is made "knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily." The judge must also make sure defendants understand their rights.

In a report to the Supreme Court released Thursday, Grim said he has determined that "a very substantial number of juveniles who appeared without counsel before Judge Ciavarella .... did not knowingly and intelligently waive their right to counsel."

Related Report: Pa. judges jailed kids for cash

D. Brian Blackwell