Posted on 04/26/2009 7:11:27 PM PDT by Born Conservative
WILKES-BARRE — A production crew working with filmmaker Michael Moore was in Luzerne County last week interviewing figures in the kids-for-cash scandal.
Mr. Moore, famous for documentaries such as “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” was not present during the filming, according to two sources familiar with the project who spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements signed by those interviewed. Mr. Moore did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Among those interviewed, according to the sources, were juveniles sentenced by former county judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.
Mr. Ciavarella faces 87 months in prison for accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks for helping two privately-owned juvenile detention centers secure county contracts worth $30 million.
Mr. Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court for a dozen years, denied juveniles their right to counsel, sentenced them to incarceration for minor offenses and overruled court staffers who recommended probation rather than detention, federal prosecutors say.
Mr. Ciavarella and another former judge, Michael T. Conahan, have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in the case and are free on bail awaiting sentencing.
The scandal has generated three federal lawsuits against the judges and other individuals and companies implicated in the scandal. Luzerne County has been named as a defendant in two of the suits. The state Supreme Court has ordered a review of hundreds of juvenile cases handled by Mr. Ciavarella.
The scandal has attracted international media attention, with coverage by the European press, the BBC and Australia’s public radio network.
Federal prosecutors say their courthouse corruption probe and another investigation into alleged bribery related to the hiring of teachers and the awarding of contracts in local school districts are continuing. Six people have been charged in the two investigations since late January. Four have entered guilty pleas.
JUDGE HOPEFUL CIAVARELLA STRESSES COURT EXPERIENCE
Times Leader, The (Wilkes Barre, PA) - Friday, April 7, 1995
Author: JIM VAN NOSTRAND; Times Leader Staff Writer
WILKES-BARRE — Mark Ciavarella Jr . won’t need any on-the-job training to be a Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge, he said Thursday.
Nineteen years as a local attorney and 132 trials, mostly civil cases, have given him the experience and temperament required to wear a judge’s robes, he said.
[snip]
A registered Democrat , Ciavarella has cross-filed on the Democratic and Republican tickets for the May 16 primary. His opponents cross-filed as well.
Well, I’m sure Michael Moore can make him into a Republican for the movie without too much trouble.
Yeah, Moore plans to eat them.
Michael Moore will be doing a film about this as soon as he finishes the one he is making about Air America Radio stealing from a childrens charity in New York City.
Helpless children locked up in prison ~ definitely something that’d attract a predator like Michael Moore.
for later read
87 months? He should go to prison for life. This is an outrage.
His 87 months will feel like a lifetime.
“Git IN mah belly!”
LOL.
Burp.
There was a lawyer on a local talk radio program discussing this case, and he said that the Federal prison system will usually keep prisoners in a facility within 500 miles of home. However, Ciavarella and Conahan will probably be sent farther than 500 miles, since they are former judges.
This case is the tip of the iceberg for corruption in this county. The FBI is now going after school board members and superintendants for pay-for-hire and kickback schemes, and also investigating uninsured motorist court cases for potential fraud.
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