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March 27, 2009

Pennsylvania Youth Sentences Overturned
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In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court has overturned hundreds of
juvenile convictions handed down by two corrupt judges who took bribes
in return for placing the youths in privately owned jails. Judges Mark
Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are said to have received $2.6 million
for ensuring that juvenile suspects were sent to private prisons. Some
of the young people were jailed over the objections of their probation
officers. The judges pleaded guilty to fraud last month and face up to
seven years in prison. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania court ruled
Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youth suspects in his
courtroom from 2003 to 2008.



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