![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/LuzerneCountyCourthouseRiverCommons.jpg/640px-LuzerneCountyCourthouseRiverCommons.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Kids for cash scandal
Judicial kickbacks case in Pennsylvania / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The kids for cash scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, US.[1] In 2008, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at a private prison operated by PA Child Care.[2]
![The large domed Luzerne County Courthouse is in Wilkes-Barre as seen from across the Susquehanna River.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/LuzerneCountyCourthouseRiverCommons.jpg/640px-LuzerneCountyCourthouseRiverCommons.jpg)
Ciavarella disposed thousands of children to extended stays in youth centers for offenses as trivial as mocking an assistant principal on Myspace or trespassing in a vacant building.[3] After a judge rejected an initial plea agreement in 2009,[4][5] a federal grand jury returned a 48-count indictment.[6] In 2010, Conahan pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison.[7] Ciavarella opted to go to trial the following year. He was convicted on 12 of 39 counts and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison.[8]
In the wake of the scandal, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania overturned hundreds of adjudications of delinquency in Luzerne County.[9] The Juvenile Law Center filed a class action lawsuit against the judges and numerous other parties,[10] and the Pennsylvania state legislature created a commission to investigate juvenile justice problems in the county.[11]