Posted on 06/04/2009 1:37:54 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Attorneys for individuals and companies being sued by hundreds of juveniles jailed in the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal are seeking a court order to preserve records the attorneys fear could be destroyed as part of a court-ordered review of thousands of juvenile cases handled by disgraced former judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.
More than 350 juveniles and parents are seeking damages from Ciavarella and other defendants in three civil rights suits filed in U.S. District Court in Scranton.
A Berks County judge is in the process of reviewing, and possibly expunging, the records of juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella, who faces 87 months in prison for accepting kickbacks in connection with contracts the county had with two privately owned juvenile detention centers,
The state Supreme Court, which ordered the review, has directed that juveniles who want to preserve their records for use in the civil rights suits be given an opportunity to do so. But attorneys for the two centers, Luzerne County and other individuals and companies named as the defendants in the suit argued the process may lead to the inadvertent destruction of documents “potentially relevant” to the defense.
On Wednesday, they asked U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo to issue an order to various court-related departments in Luzerne County, the state police, municipal police departments in Luzerne County and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to preserve all records they possess dealing with juveniles who have appeared in county court.
Berks County Judge Arthur E. Grim is reviewing more than 6,000 juvenile cases handled by Ciavarella in 2003-2008.
The state Supreme Court has already authorized Grim to expunge the records of juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella for relatively minor offenses, an estimated 800 cases.
Ciavarella is accused of organizing his court to make detention more likely, overruling court employees who recommended probation instead of detention and failing to properly inform juvenile defendants of their right to an attorney.
Ciavarella, 59, and his co-defendant, former judge Michael T. Conahan, are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks from two individuals tied to private juvenile detention centers.
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