PA: State Supreme Court steps in

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 8:45 AM EST
http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/02/03/news/wb_voice.20090203.t.pg4.cv03cdjudgesjuveniles_s1.2276820_top2.txt

The state Supreme Court will immediately review the cases of hundreds of young defendants who passed through the Luzerne County court system while Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. allegedly accepted payoffs to facilitate the development of a juvenile detention center, Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille said Monday.

“The court views this matter with grave concern,” Castille said in a statement.

Federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella, the former president judge, and Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan last Monday with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud, and accused them of collecting $2.6 million between January 2003 to April 2007 from the co-owner and developer of a juvenile detention center in Pittston Township and a similar facility in Butler County.

Under plea agreements, Ciavarella and Conahan must serve 87 months in federal prison and must resign their positions as judges within 10 days of their plea.

The Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based advocacy group, requested intervention from the state Supreme Court last Friday, two weeks after the court denied an earlier petition for relief. The Supreme Court did not elaborate on its denial.

In the original petition, filed last April, the Juvenile Law Center accused Ciavarella of ignoring rules of procedure and violating young defendants’ due process rights by running them through the system without legal representation.

In the revised filing, attorneys for the Juvenile Law Center asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider and amend the original application, “as this case is now about the wholesale subversion of the Luzerne County juvenile justice system over many years.”

“In light of the information revealed by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the expanded petition filed by the Juvenile Law Center, we will exercise our King’s Bench and constitutional supervisory powers in this matter,” Castille said.

In exercising its King’s Bench and supervisory powers, the Court takes a case for immediate review and out of the normal channels of litigation in the lower courts, said Stuart Ditzen, a spokesman for the Administrative Office for Pennsylvania Courts. This occurs rarely and only when the Court sees a matter of immediate public importance at stake, he said.

Marsha Levick, the legal director of the Juvenile Law Center, applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to intervene.

“We are extremely pleased that the court is stepping in and that they recognized the extreme public importance of the issues that are at stake here,” Levick said.

Attorneys for the Juvenile Law Center filed the revised petition on behalf of all juveniles who were subjected to delinquency proceedings in Luzerne County between the beginning of 2003 and May 23, 2008, the day Ciavarella stepped aside from the juvenile court.

The state Supreme Court removed Ciavarella from all judicial duties last Wednesday and revoked Conahan’s certificate, barring him from serving as a senior judge.

According to the state Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission, 5,210 of the young defendants who appeared in Luzerne County Juvenile Court between 2003 and 2006 were deemed delinquent.

In 2006, the last year for which data is available, 1,101 defendants were deemed delinquent and 398 were placed in a secure juvenile detention facility.

In 2003, 778 of the 1,499 delinquent juveniles were placed in secure detention. In 2004, the rate was 914 of 1,369 and in 2005, 491 of 1,241.

“We look forward to finally achieving justice for the kids affected by this in Luzerne County,” Levick said.

msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061