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Kids For Cash Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Former juvenile defendants filed a class action lawsuit against ex judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan.
- Why: Plaintiffs are seeking financial damages after they were sent to for-profit detention centers as part of a kickback scheme.
- Where: The class action lawsuit is being heard in a Pennsylvania federal court.
Former juvenile defendants are finally getting their day in court to argue a class action lawsuit they lodged against ex judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan for their roles in the infamous “Kids for Cash” scandal.
Ciavarella and Conahan were both convicted in 2011 of participating in a kickback scheme by sending juvenile defendants who commited minor offenses to for-profit detention centers in exchange for cash.
More than 300 former juvenile defendants, alleged victims of the Kids for Cash scheme, are scheduled to take the stand during a trial for the class action lawsuit aimed at recovering financial damages for the victims, reports WNEP-TV.
‘Kids for Cash’ Victims Wait For Day in Court
Class action lawsuits related to the Kids for Cash scheme have been filed as far back as 2009, meaning plaintiffs have been waiting more than a decade to speak their case against the two disgraced judges.
Ciavarella is currently still in prison serving a 28-year sentence while Conahan, who pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison, was released last year because of concerns related to COVID-19, reports WNEP-TV.
Prosecutors during the criminal trial say Ciavarella and Conahan were given nearly $3 million dollars for participating in the kickback scheme.
A Pennsylvania federal judge in 2015 approved a $4.75 million class action settlement which ended claims against Robert Powell, a co-owner of one detention center that took part in bribing the judges to send youthful offenders there.
The former juvenile defendants also came to a $17.8 million class action settlement in 2011 with the company that built the detention facilities, as well as a $2.5 million settlement which ended claims against the detention facilities owners and operators in 2013.
Do you think it is time for Kids for Cash victims to have their day in court? Let us know in the comments!
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4 thoughts on‘Kids For Cash’ Judges To Face Former Juvenile Defendants in Class Action Hearing
I was awarded a substantial amount of money as a result of this scandal and was told by the lawyers that I will most likely never receive any of it. My life is and never will be the same because of this and would like to get my rightful compensation. Or id like to sue the lawyers involved for false information
As a mom of a child of this scheme. I feel sorry for all the kids involved. My son was 9 years old. These Judges should be ashamed of them selves. Alot of the kids that were involved are screwed up young adults because these judges mentally broke these kids and ruined families by taken these kids away and throwing them in to Camps to move rocks and smelly detention centers and not letting family see their kids for weeks then when you finally could see your kid they did nothing but cry…
I was apart of kids for cash along time ago I didn’t speak out becus i didn’t want my name out there it was my life and me mentally
Yeah there are alot of us