Senator LeAnna Washington Seeks Sanction on ex-Luzerne County Judges

-Senator Washington has always been a dedicated advocate for children and had been previously involved in legislative hearings on the dangers of psychiatric drugs for children.-




Sanction on disgraced ex-Luzerne judges sought



BY ROBERT SWIFT
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:17 AM EDT
Senator: This should never happen again

HARRISBURG — A Philadelphia senator is the first to seek a legislative sanction against disgraced former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

Sen. LeAnna Washington, D-4, Philadelphia, has sponsored a resolution condemning the two judges who pleaded guilty last month to taking kickbacks to help develop a privately owned juvenile detention center.

The senators’s resolution raises questions about a miscarriage of justice, citing the 25 percent of juvenile defendants sent in recent years to the detention center run by PA Childcare LLC in Luzerne County and noting that many youths appeared before the judges without legal representation.

“These two administrators of the court blatantly conspired with others to defraud county government and most egregiously conspired to have our youth subjected to confinement when in many instances it was not warranted,” said Ms. Washington in a statement.

The resolution calls on the state Supreme Court to study the state’s juvenile justice system and exercise greater oversight over its operations.

“We as legislators, as well as the Supreme Court, need to take a long critical look at the entire juvenile justice sys�tem to ensure that incidents like this never happen again,” added Ms. Washington.

Ms. Washington is the rank�ing Democrat on the Senate Aging and Youth committee.

Prospects for quick action on the resolution appear uncertain. Some senators and in-house attorneys believe the Senate should refrain from voting on resolutions or holding public hearings until the federal investigation into the Luzerne County courts wraps up.