Pennsylvania rocked by "jailing kids for cash" scandal

Pennsylvania rocked by "jailing kids for cash" scandal

It's amazing what people these days will do for money. It is said in this news report that two judges agreed to put juvenile offenders in a juvenile detention facility in order to increase the head count and in return they would receive cash. Some of these kids did things where the consequence would normally only be a fine or community service. One girl mocked her principal on MySpace and was sentenced to a wilderness camp. Another boy was accused of trespassing and was sentenced to boot camp. The juvenile centers which are owned by Mid Atlantic Youth Services Corp are continuing to run and they are denying that the owner did not know about the judges receiving cash. The judges agreed to spend 87 months in prison under plea bargains.
My opinion on this whole thing is that these judges were desperate. They only have eyes for money and felt like there was nothing wrong with it because the kids did do things wrong that deserved punishment. But these kids did not do something severe enough to be taken away from their families and put into a juvenile detention center. It is insane that they would consider mocking a principal bad enough to be sent to a wilderness camp…this deserves something more like detention or suspension…maybe a few classes in respect. I hope that those judges realized how it feels to be sent somewhere like prison and I hope they realize that what they did was nowhere near okay. These kids are KIDS. They will do little things like this and you need to teach them by doing the right thing…not by sentencing them to something that is wrong for them.

It's pretty ridiculous that these judges would do something like this for a few extra bucks. I agree that these kids should have had some form of punishment for what they did but nowhere near that severe. I'm glad they got sent to prison for what they did. Maybe now they will realize what they put the kids through. Its sad to hear stories like this about corruption in government and other positions that are suppose to be there to help people, and then they do stuff like this.

That is a low-blow in the face. I don’t that the judges should have done anything that serious to them kids. If I had to say something I would have change the verdict around and tell the kids that the judges should punish themselves for making money. Money does not make a person happy. It is there to buy things and pay bills. I was always the type of person that discipline people, but if the law requires a person to do something when they did something of a certain level. Then do it, don’t think that because you are a judge, you can do whatever you want.