Judges - bought and paid for

It seems like at least the judges in our governmental system should be free from influence by special interest groups so that they can render impartial decisions, but I guess that's not even so.  Nor are they beyond lying about it.  Just warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it?  The following is from The Progress Report (2/15/11).

Common Cause sent a letter to the Supreme Court yesterday asking for a clarification: though a Court spokeswoman previously said Justice Clarence Thomas only did a "brief drop-by" to a conservative, Koch-organized event in 2008, Thomas' financial disclosure report reveals four days of accommodations, paid for by the conservative Federalist Society. "I don't think the explanation they've given is credible," said Common Cause vice president Arn Pearson.

Scandal - In the Judicial Branch

Nothing like a good scandal. This one involves a couple of judges and some private companies operating juvenile detention centers. Don't you just love it when Republicans rant about how much better private businesses run things than government does? I don't think there's a whole lot of difference, myself.

From Carolina Naturally...

Two senior Pennsylvania judges have been sentenced to seven years in prison for taking bribes from juvenile detention centers -- in exchange for the bribes, the judges turned in guilty verdicts for the teens who appeared before them and sent them to 'juvie', thus enriching the operators of the kiddie gulag. For this, the judges received $2.6 million in kickbacks.

Here's more from The Legal Intelligencer.

More Scandal

This stuff makes you sick after a while. One has to wonder if there are so many politicians getting away with bilking the taxpayers that most think they'll get away with it - or do we in fact catch most of this crap and the ones who are caught are just stupid? Any thoughts?

This is from Pennsylvania, posted at WHPTV.com...

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Two Luzerne County judges are headed for federal prison.

Federal authorities say President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan were involved in a $2.6 million scheme to place juvenile offenders into facilities in which the judges had a financial interest.

Court documents state that in some cases, Ciavarella ordered children into detention even when juvenile probation officers did not recommend it.

The two have agreed to plead guilty to honest services fraud and tax fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in federal prison. They have agreed to step down from the bench.

Ciavarella denied wrongdoing in an interview last May with The Associated Press.

via Crooks and Liars, where Susie Madrak says...

Back when I was a reporter, I once explained to a (Republican) politician that it was against the state ethics law to use his wife as the township secretary, since the two of them could collude to change the public record. He looked at me, shocked, and said, "If you're not in politics to make money for yourself and your family, why would you bother?" Why, indeed.