Former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr. Sentenced To 28 Years
The Philadelphia Inquirer article written by Crag R. McCoy today sums up the current chapter of the Luzerne County corruption story.
As his moment of sentencing drew near Thursday, former Luzerne County Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was still trying to minimize his crimes. No way, he said, had he sold "kids for cash." The prosecutor would have none of it. "In essence, Mr. Ciavarella's argument is, 'I was not selling kids retail,' " Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon A.D. Zubrod said. "We agree with that. He was selling them wholesale." Minutes later, U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik slammed Ciavarella, 61, with 28 years in prison. It appeared to be the longest federal prison sentence ever given in a U.S. political corruption case. In the Scranton area, Ciavarella was a key target among many in a sweeping and still-ongoing federal corruption probe. Prosecutors have brought charges against nearly 30 officials, including two other judges, numerous court officials, a former state senator, school board members, and county officials.
As the prosecutor in the case Gordon Zubrod has stated, Ciavarella's actions in his "cash for kids scandal" has left Luzerne County's "criminal justice system... in ruins and will not recover in our lifetimes."
That's an understatement, in my opinion, and in my experience. What Ciavarella and his cronies have done has undermined the trust of Pennsylvania citizens in the entire judicial system, no matter what the county. I raised the issue of the Luzerne County scandal in a voir dire question in a recent Philadelphia case I was trying. Several of he jurors, all from Philadelphia, knew of the "cash for kids" scandal and said it had effected their view of how judges can directly impact their lives or the lives of their families.
As a litigator, I know, for example, that the legal opinion or findings of a judge in any particular case can have broad reaching affects. But the prospective jurors that I was questioning did not mean what they said in any complimentary way. Ciavarella's shenanagans will be something we all will be dealing with for some time.
