Ciavarella

Attorney Al Flora Jr. stood outside a federal courthouse in Scranton 10 years ago and declared victory on behalf of former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. after a jury acquitted him of 27 of 39 charges. The veteran lawyer insisted the jury validated the defense’s claims the case...

Thursday marks 10 years since former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was convicted in federal court for the “kids-for-cash” scandal. Here’s an update on the key players in the case. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.:. Ciavarella was convicted in federal court on Feb. 18, 2011,...

Editor: There should be no compassionate release or home confinement for poor kids-for-cash judge Mark Ciavarella (Dec. 29). His release date is June 18, 2035. He claims he served a “substantial portion” of his sentence — 112 out of 386 months. He wants a compassionate release due to health concerns and claims he suffers from chronic kidney disease, bronchitis, hypertension, chest pains, hip and shoulders aches and rapid heartbeats. All that list sounds like what hard-working citizens have by working honestly and doing without things just to support their families.

Compassion rarely was on the docket in former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella’s courtroom, where he denied hundreds of teenagers their civil rights and routinely marched them off to detention. He and his partner in crime, former Judge Michael T. Conahan, were co-architects of one of the worst judicial...