Criminal charges against autistic students
Ciavarella claims that he was motivated to keep schools safe and that he believes he was acting in such a way as to prevent another Columbine Massacre... I don't believe him.
I don't believe him, either. Especially since prison has been shown to increase criminal behavior rather than reform it. What he was doing, and he should be aware of this as a judge, was creating more criminals.
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You don't need to hide, my friend, for I am just like you.
Just posted: ASAN Statement on #JusticeForKayleb
Ciavarella claims that he was motivated to keep schools safe and that he believes he was acting in such a way as to prevent another Columbine Massacre... I don't believe him.
I don't believe him, either. Especially since prison has been shown to increase criminal behavior rather than reform it. What he was doing, and he should be aware of this as a judge, was creating more criminals.
Yeah, and some of the students were sentenced to adult prisons. Some of the students didn't leave the prisons until their twenties. Many of them were denied educational services and so needed to return to school to get a G.E.D.
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Now take a trip with me but don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem. I've known it from the start all these good ideas will tear your brain apart. Scared, but you can follow me. I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die. - a7x
Actually, the lawsuits are still ongoing. There are four class action lawsuits. Three federal lawsuits filed on behalf of the victims have been consolidated with the Juvenile Law Center lawsuit into a master class action. The suits seek damages under the civil portion of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against the judges' spouses and business associates, shell companies, youth center officials, and Luzerne County.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed a special master, Senior Judge Arthur Grim, who reported that Ciavarella had violated the rights of thousands of students. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved Grim's recommendation overturning most of the cases.
A class action lawsuit expunged the records of the students, giving them a clean slate.
Under the Mericle settlement, 1,066 former defendants who appeared before Ciavarella will receive base settlements of $500 to $5,000, with some eligible for additional money depending on the circumstances of their cases and sentences.
The settlement will also pay more than $600,000 to 548 parents to reimburse them for costs, fines and fees ordered by Ciavarella, (who is serving 28 years in federal prison for racketeering.)
The settlement ended up being about $17.75 million in total ($4 million to lawyers.)
A recent two-part investigation by the Huffington Post found that kids confined in YSI facilities “frequently faced beatings, neglect, sexual abuse and unsanitary food over the past two decades.”
The U.S. Department of Justice found that prisons were among those with highest rates of sexual victimization of youth of all juvenile facilities in the U.S.
I think the kids deserve a larger settlement...
Also, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Sandra Brulo, illegally tampered with juvenile court records in an attempt to evade liability and has been found guilty in one of the lawsuits.
_________________
Now take a trip with me but don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem. I've known it from the start all these good ideas will tear your brain apart. Scared, but you can follow me. I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die. - a7x
I've never heard of Kids for Cash, but it sounds deplorable. I live in Ohio but within an hour of the Pennsylvania border.
Here is a short summary:
President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan adjudicated children to extended stays in youth centers for first offenses as minimal as mocking a principal on Myspace, trespassing in a vacant building, or shoplifting DVDs from Wal-mart. Ciavarella was caught in tax evasion in connection with receiving $2.6 million in payments from managers at local juvenile detention centers. They "violated the rights of as many as 6000 young people by denying them basic rights to counsel and handing down outrageously excessive sentences. The lives of these young people and their families were changed forever."
It seems like a 'Senior Judge' and a 'President Judge' would have money already, so why would they need to take part in this scam?
They weren't content with their big house, they wanted yachts as well?
My assumption appears to have been correct, that is deplorable.
You'll find, slenkar, that people with money never feel they have enough money. There is no such thing as enough. It's the same situation with power; those who have it are always seeking ways to get more. Of course, that's a generalization; not everyone will fit that profile, but many do.
I've seen it likened to an addiction; an addiction to money and power. It's truly terrible. :/ Of course there's probably other factors too.
It's pretty simple when you think about it. Money buys things, makes life easier. More money buys more things, makes life easier still. That's positive reinforcement; it teaches people to behave in ways that get them more money so they can get more happiness. A study was done a few years ago that found that money does indeed buy happiness, up to something like $150,000/year. But there's a threshold. Above the threshold, money has less power to buy happiness because there's only so much happiness money will ever buy. The effect is similar to the diminishing satisfaction of continued drug use.
This leads the wealthy to a desperation of sorts; they've been taught that money will make them happier, but now it is not. They need greater and greater amounts of money to obtain the same level of happiness, and when they can't get that happiness, they keep turning back again and again to the only thing that ever worked: money.
It's just like a lab rat that has been taught to push a button to get an especially tasty treat; if the button no longer gives treats, the rat will keep pushing it over and over long after logic should tell them that the button will not work anymore. They keep 'holding out hope' that the old method will continue to work instead of looking for new ways to get the treats.
So yeah, it is like a drug. Some of the rich rats just haven't learned that they need a new method of obtaining happiness. They keep trying the old method, with greater and greater amounts of desperation.
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You don't need to hide, my friend, for I am just like you.
I was often uncontrollable in school. Nevertheless, the patience involved in helping to guide me I must say has really helped me grow up. I don't think getting locked in juvie would have helped anything.
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"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin
This is just one of the many reasons why I think we need a separate education system, not just get shoved into mainstream or special ed and hope for the best, neither is even close to suitable.
Oh, Kayleb is also black? Geez, so they lock him up twice as fast, for kicking over a trash can.
Seems like he was just trying to stop an agonizing sensory overload. Anyone, neurotypical or autistic, might react badly if a cop is causing them pain. I think it's self-defense.
Oh, Kayleb is also black? Geez, so they lock him up twice as fast, for kicking over a trash can.
I don't think that a segregated special school would solve the problem. There's still as much potential for stupidity in discipline policy
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