Comments on: Judges Jail Kids 4 Millions in Kickbacks

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:19:44 +0000

I grew up in Wilkes-Barre. It’s a throwback to the Northeastern US culture of corruption. I thought that things had changed but as late as two years ago, my brother-in-law told me that he was so frustrated by his daughter’s inability to get a local teaching job despite having two Masters degrees and being trained as a reading specialist that he asked someone on the school board who he had to pay and how much. No response. And she still drives two hours to teach in a smaller district.

These guys are low, but they obviously had very good attorneys. If I were the prosecutor, I’d be looking at something like false imprisonment or some other crime against the person rather than fraud. Sentences are longer for those crimes. I imagine that the attorneys bargained the heck out of the case to get the fraud charged and the shorter time in prison.

By: Judge a man not by his car, but by his pump

Judge a man not by his car, but by his pump — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Biblical constipation – “Balaam’s ass would not move”
You are exquisitely anal retentive Johnny Moore, See you in church.

By: John Moore

John Moore — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:37:36 +0000

The 2 corrupt judges are infinitely worse than the priapic former judge.

By: Judge a man not by his car, but by his pump

Judge a man not by his car, but by his pump — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:41:45 +0000

Lets not forget the former judge who was sentenced to four years in prison for using a penis pump under his robe while he presided himself over jury trials. He was convicted of four felony counts of indecent exposure. Police built a case against the judge after a police officer testifying in a 2003 murder trial saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under the judge’s robe. Investigators later checked the carpet, the judge’s robes and the chair behind the bench and found semen. It’s rumored the judge would prepare for the day with a “love cocktail” of cranberry juice, Viagra and a Amphetamine before leaving home.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:48:30 +0000

WBC, the local PA paper, the Times-Leader has lots of this stuff. http://www.timesleader.com/news/hottopics/judges

It makes for great and horrifying reading if you don’t mind falling down a news rabbit hole.

By: WBC

WBC — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:34:01 +0000

Yup, this is an egregious one: kids locked up for months for stealing loose change out of a car (whose car?) with no prior? And it’s the fact that there were thousands of kids, earning these judges $2.5 million? How could they have hidden so much money? Was it received in cash? Are judges subject to financial oversight like other elected officials? Or were these judges appointed and exempt? Many questions…

This reminds me of how thousands of people were incarcerated in mental institutions by the former incarnation of Tenet Healthcare (when the scandal hit, the chain’s stock went into freefall, and there was new management — I HOPE I recall correctly that the old management was jailed), on flimsy pretexts, just for the insurance payments. The idea of going to see a shrink for a “routine consult” and getting locked up for months “on doctor’s orders” is truly scary. When we give people like judges and shrinks and health care facilities so much arbitrary power over our liberties, they need more professional AND financial oversight than they get now.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:18:58 +0000

Damn right!

By: pokey

pokey — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:32:17 +0000

This is another one of those cases where Celese will make a Death Penalty exception along with the Wolf murderers.