New Documentary Exposes Sinister Judge Who Sent Thousands of Innocent Youths to Jail for Money
by Sky Palma
The
story seems pretty straight forward: a corrupt judge is paid money from
private juvenile detention institutions to trump up charges against
kids and send them to be locked up. But as a new documentary shows, the
line between right and wrong isn’t always has clear as we’d like it to
be.
Robert
May’s new documentary, Kids for Cash, tells the story of Judge Mark
Ciavarella, who began sentencing teenagers back in 2003 to juvenile
detention centers for offenses as minor as trespassing in a an abandoned
building, or poking fun at a principal with a fake MySpace profile.
As
a result, over 3,000 children were dumped into the juvenile justice
system under a “zero tolerance” policy. Many of the kids were persuaded
to waive their right to a lawyer. Most despicable of all, some of the
kids were incarcerated for years.
Eventually
Ciavarella and a fellow judge, Michael Conahan were convicted of
multiple federal charges and sentenced to decades in prison.
The
film’s most powerful and heartbreaking scene comes on the steps of the
courthouse just after Ciavarella has been sentenced. As the judge stands
with his lawyer who is taking questions from reporters, Sandy Fonzo,
the mother of a teenage boy who Ciavarella sent to a juvenile facility
and later committed suicide, steps forward to angrily confront the
judge.
“Do
you remember me? Do you remember me?” Fonzo shouts. “Do you remember my
son—an All-Star wrestler? He’s gone. He shot himself in the heart you
scumbag.”
Watch a “Kids for Cash” preview in the video below:
h/t: Opposing Views
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