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Extra context (from Wikipedia but somewhat buried): The two judges receiving bribes were sentenced to 17.5 & 28 years in prison respectively. The bribing comp

Extra context (from Wikipedia but somewhat buried): The two judges receiving bribes were sentenced to 17.5 & 28 years in prison respectively. The bribing company is still in operation today. One of the co-owners was sentenced to 18 months in prison for "failing to report a felony". The other co-owner at the time is now the sole owner and was not charged. His brother was and still is the District Attorney.

mcv 4y ago
The fact that the bribing company is still operating and the owners or executives haven't been locked up for a long time, is plain disgusting. Executives should get locked up for the crimes they and their companies commit. Same with HSBC that only got a fine for massive money laundering.
- daniel-cussen 4y ago
  [dead]
- ericlnu 4y ago
  Like HBC and Canada who continues to contribute to the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. Canada is not a country, it's a corporation, and should be held accountable as both. It has 0 claim to the land and they know it. They launder money too
  - ericlnu 4y ago
    Why am i getting downvoted for speaking the truth? Fk off racist pigs
- nine_zeros 4y ago
  In America, corporations are people but only when it comes to tax breaks. When it comes to criminal law, corporations are instruments of funding for lawmakers.
  - mcv 4y ago
    "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas sentences one to death." (No idea who first said that. Someone on the internet, probably.)
  - candiodari 4y ago
    I don't get this. HOW do you get to this conclusion? Directly involved: * the District Attorney * 2 judges * the director of ... of the Juvenile Probation Office * the brother of the District Attorney, who ran the prison (he was convicted, NOT because he paid off corrupt judges, but because he lied about that) * a supreme court lawyer Indirectly involved: * a supreme court justice personally * the whole Pennsylvania supreme court * the governor of Pennsylvania * Pennsylvania's Judicial Conduct Board * the FBI Clearly the problem is "corporate america". Which means, Facebook and ExxonMobil, I guess? Seriously? All were at the very least presented with evidence this was happening (most participated in it), all refused to help obviously wrongfully convicted children. And when this was finally dealt with? What was the problem that needed fixing? What got the ball rolling you ask? Hundreds of complaints about improper sentencing? No. The district attorney realising obvious wrongdoing happening for years, quite literally right in front of them? No. A childish squabble over who has to do what job, by court employees, resulting in judges accusing each other. One accuses the other of "conspiring" to remove her, and infighting over shared ownership of a Florida condo ... which lead to press coverage of what one judge was accusing others off ... Needless to say, the justice system, judges, public prosecutor, the county and the state of Pennsylvania, needed to put the blame somewhere. Somehow, not a SINGLE dollar of damages has to come from them. One might add that had this in fact been private sector wrongdoing that there would be no question that the justice department, as the employer, would have been responsible for damages caused by their employees, the judges. So: yes, clearly everything that's wrong with America is corporations and the private sector ... not at all corrupt government, who then even refuses to take responsibility for the actions of their employees, and then used parts of the damages to fund their own operations ... Lots of other problems, such as the crime of treating the children so badly in the juvenile facility EVEN IF they would have been correctly convicted are still, shall we say "open problems". No convictions, no attempts at fixing anything. Everything from access to medical care to the temperature of the facilities is still illegal. To save the government a buck. Clearly capitalism is what's to blame here ... that the public sector might do enormous damage due to corruption is apparently not possible, yet it's absurdly clear this is exactly what happened here on a very large scale (thousands of children). That they're still just openly violating the law in the very same place this happened, they're still mistreating juveniles (and adult convicts for that matter). Frankly I'd argue power needs to be taken away from these people JUST based on the pathetic childish accusations between the judges that brought this to light.
isolli 4y ago
I didn't know this, thanks. And it's horrifying.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  If you're ever in the mood to feel absolutely awful about the world, watch the video on https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2011/02/mom_blames_luzerne_county_judg.html https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2011/02/mom_blames_luzerne... (it's one of the references on the Cash-for-Kids Wikipedia page). One kid was locked up by these evil people for a minor drug paraphernalia charge. He spiraled after that and ended up committing suicide. The video is the mom confronting the corrupt judge and the river of BS from his lawyer.
jandrese 4y ago
> His brother was and still is the District Attorney. But of course he recused himself from the case for the obvious conflict of interest right? Right???
elliekelly 4y ago
I’m sure this had no bearing whatsoever on the fact that they weren’t charged but their father just so happened to have been a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice who (coincidentally, I’m sure) retired the same year the scheme began.

mcv 4y ago

The fact that the bribing company is still operating and the owners or executives haven't been locked up for a long time, is plain disgusting. Executives should get locked up for the crimes they and their companies commit. Same with HSBC that only got a fine for massive money laundering.

daniel-cussen 4y ago
[dead]
ericlnu 4y ago
Like HBC and Canada who continues to contribute to the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. Canada is not a country, it's a corporation, and should be held accountable as both. It has 0 claim to the land and they know it. They launder money too
- ericlnu 4y ago
  Why am i getting downvoted for speaking the truth? Fk off racist pigs
nine_zeros 4y ago
In America, corporations are people but only when it comes to tax breaks. When it comes to criminal law, corporations are instruments of funding for lawmakers.
- mcv 4y ago
  "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas sentences one to death." (No idea who first said that. Someone on the internet, probably.)
- candiodari 4y ago
  I don't get this. HOW do you get to this conclusion? Directly involved: * the District Attorney * 2 judges * the director of ... of the Juvenile Probation Office * the brother of the District Attorney, who ran the prison (he was convicted, NOT because he paid off corrupt judges, but because he lied about that) * a supreme court lawyer Indirectly involved: * a supreme court justice personally * the whole Pennsylvania supreme court * the governor of Pennsylvania * Pennsylvania's Judicial Conduct Board * the FBI Clearly the problem is "corporate america". Which means, Facebook and ExxonMobil, I guess? Seriously? All were at the very least presented with evidence this was happening (most participated in it), all refused to help obviously wrongfully convicted children. And when this was finally dealt with? What was the problem that needed fixing? What got the ball rolling you ask? Hundreds of complaints about improper sentencing? No. The district attorney realising obvious wrongdoing happening for years, quite literally right in front of them? No. A childish squabble over who has to do what job, by court employees, resulting in judges accusing each other. One accuses the other of "conspiring" to remove her, and infighting over shared ownership of a Florida condo ... which lead to press coverage of what one judge was accusing others off ... Needless to say, the justice system, judges, public prosecutor, the county and the state of Pennsylvania, needed to put the blame somewhere. Somehow, not a SINGLE dollar of damages has to come from them. One might add that had this in fact been private sector wrongdoing that there would be no question that the justice department, as the employer, would have been responsible for damages caused by their employees, the judges. So: yes, clearly everything that's wrong with America is corporations and the private sector ... not at all corrupt government, who then even refuses to take responsibility for the actions of their employees, and then used parts of the damages to fund their own operations ... Lots of other problems, such as the crime of treating the children so badly in the juvenile facility EVEN IF they would have been correctly convicted are still, shall we say "open problems". No convictions, no attempts at fixing anything. Everything from access to medical care to the temperature of the facilities is still illegal. To save the government a buck. Clearly capitalism is what's to blame here ... that the public sector might do enormous damage due to corruption is apparently not possible, yet it's absurdly clear this is exactly what happened here on a very large scale (thousands of children). That they're still just openly violating the law in the very same place this happened, they're still mistreating juveniles (and adult convicts for that matter). Frankly I'd argue power needs to be taken away from these people JUST based on the pathetic childish accusations between the judges that brought this to light.

isolli 4y ago

I didn't know this, thanks. And it's horrifying.

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
If you're ever in the mood to feel absolutely awful about the world, watch the video on https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2011/02/mom_blames_luzerne_county_judg.html https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2011/02/mom_blames_luzerne... (it's one of the references on the Cash-for-Kids Wikipedia page). One kid was locked up by these evil people for a minor drug paraphernalia charge. He spiraled after that and ended up committing suicide. The video is the mom confronting the corrupt judge and the river of BS from his lawyer.

jandrese 4y ago

> His brother was and still is the District Attorney. But of course he recused himself from the case for the obvious conflict of interest right? Right???

elliekelly 4y ago

I’m sure this had no bearing whatsoever on the fact that they weren’t charged but their father just so happened to have been a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice who (coincidentally, I’m sure) retired the same year the scheme began.