Jailed for a MySpace parody

[dreamdancer 0]

nice little business scheme they had going here...

Quote

The prosecution charge sheet alleges that from about June 2000 to January 2007 Ciavarella entered into an "understanding" with Conahan to concoct a scheme to enrich themselves. The two judges conspired to strip the local state detention centre of funding, diverting the money to a private company called PA Child Care which it helped to build a new facility in the area.

In January 2002, prosecutors allege, Conahan signed a "placement guarantee agreement" with the firm to send teenagers into their custody. Enough children would be detained to ensure the firm received more than $1m a year in public money. In late 2004 a long-term deal was secured with PACC worth about $58m.

In return, the prosecutors allege, the judges received at least $2.6m in kickbacks. They bought a condominium in Florida with the proceeds. PACC's then owner, Bob Powell, who has not been charged, used to moor his yacht at a nearby marina. He called the boat "Reel Justice".

For a man who has agreed to serve more than seven years in jail as part of a plea bargain, Ciavarella comes across as remarkably unflustered. He invited the Guardian into his Wilkes-Barre home where he remains free on bail pending sentencing.

Though he pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and evasion of taxes, he insists that he took the money in all innocence, assuming it to be a legitimate "finder's fee" from the private company for help in building the detention centre. He denies sending children to custody in return for kickbacks. "Cash for kids? It never happened. People have jumped to conclusions - I didn't do any of these things."

He says that he regarded his court as a place of treatment for troubled adolescents, not of punishment. "I wanted these children to avoid becoming statistics in an adult world. That's all it was, trying to help these kids straighten out their lives."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/07/juvenille-judges-cash-detention-centre

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[dreamdancer 0]

another brilliant business scheme...

Quote

With the seal of Santa Barbara County’s district attorney on its cover, the envelope caught Jennifer Osborn’s attention immediately. And when she opened it, Osborn read something startling: She was being accused of a crime.

Osborn, the letter alleged, had "violated criminal statutes by issuing a bad check." She faced as much as a year in jail and a $2,500 fine unless she made good, paid an additional $215 in fees and spent a Saturday at a "financial accountability class."

The letter stunned the 20-year-old college sophomore. Osborn was unaware that a $92 check she’d written to her school bookstore had bounced, the result of a mix-up with her mom, she said. "Failure to pay in full and schedule class within TEN DAYS from the date of this Notice may result in your case being forwarded for criminal prosecution," the letter threatened.

Alarmed, Osborn signed up for the class. But there were some things she didn’t know at the time.

Despite the official seal, the letter wasn’t sent by the DA's office. Osborn had no obligation to attend a class to avoid prosecution. And there was virtually no chance she’d be charged with a crime – in fact, the DA’s explicit policy was not to consider prosecution for bounced checks under $100.

Osborn is among the approximately 2 million people a year who receive similar letters from American Corrective Counseling Services, a privately held firm that has turned bad checks into a thriving business. The California-based company has deals to run "diversion" programs on behalf of some 150 county DAs. In return, the DA offices get a cut of the fees.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/131118/jail_time_for_a_%2414_bounced_check_how_private_debt_collectors_cash_in_posing_as_the_government/

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[shropshire 0]

She should have checked] that she had money ion here account before writing a cheque

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Andy9o8 2]

The title of the Guardian story (and thus this thread, too) is misleading. The kid was not "Jailed for a MySpace parody", which implies that it was done by some moron who stupidly thought he was doing the right thing. Rather, she was unlawfully jailed by members of a criminal conspiracy, in this case a corrupt judge and other corrupt people, who deliberately used it as a device by which to commit a crime for their own personal enrichment.