Lawyers Seek Order Barring Top Pa. Court from Destroying Juvenile Records

A bizarre case in which two senior Pennsylvania judges in Luzerne County are accused of having profited from putting hundreds—or perhaps even thousands—of youths into juvenile detention for relatively minor offenses has now taken a strange new twist.

In an extraordinary filing, lawyers representing individuals allegedly improperly jailed as youngsters accuse the state supreme court of sabotaging their clients' federal constitutional claims for damages by destroying relevant juvenile records, reports the Associated Press.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's alleged refusal to preserve the records is "characteristic of its apparent and persistent insensitivity" to victims' concerns in what is likely "the most significant child-related judicial corruption scandal in the nation's history," the filing contends.

A supreme court spokesman declined to comment today on these allegations.

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing Monday on the lawyers' request to halt the records destruction.

The two senior judges involved in the juvenile court scandal have entered conditional pleas in criminal corruption cases requiring them to serve prison terms and are no longer on the bench, as detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts.

Additional related coverage:

Associated Press: "Pa. youths want tainted convictions tossed"

Legal Intelligencer: "Rift Emerges at Hearing on Juvenile Records in Judicial Corruption Case"

Morning Call: "Ex-Luzerne Judge Ciavarella says there was no kids-for-cash deal with juvenile detention centers"

ABAJournal.com (March 2009): "Tough Job for Problem-Solver Pa. Judge: Up to 1,200 Invalid Youth Convictions"

ABAJournal.com: "Disgraced Pa. Judge: I Didn’t Discuss $3.5M Libel Case"