Crime | Pennsylvania Court Scraps Pa. Juvenile Convictions Corrupt judge took kickbacks from detention centers By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Mar 26, 2009 6:30 PM CDT Copied Mark Ciavarella, in foreground, leaves the federal courthouse in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/David Kidwell) See 1 more photo Pennsylvania's highest court today overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from youth detention centers. The state Supreme Court ruled that former judge Mark Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youth offenders who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers between 2003 and 2008. In one of the most egregious cases of judicial corruption ever, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, with taking $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in privately owned lockups. The judges pleaded guilty to fraud last month and face sentences of more than seven years in prison. Read These Next RFK Jr. suggests antidepressants to blame after shooting. Isolated tribe members show up in an unexpected place. Trump just used a spending maneuver last seen nearly 50 years ago. Details trickle out on 2 more victims of the Minneapolis shooting. See 1 more photo Report an error