At the judge's recommendation, the Supreme Court in 2009 expunged the records of 2,251 juvenile offenders involved in more than 3,000 criminal cases.
A Pennsylvania judge whose review of the courtroom scandal known as “kids for cash” led to the dismissal of thousands of tainted juvenile convictions has finished his work and was discharged from the case Thursday.
The state Supreme Court said Berks County Senior Judge Arthur Grim has completed his review of five years’ worth of juvenile cases handled by disgraced former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., who was sentenced last year to 28 years in federal prison for taking a $1 million bribe from the builder of a pair of for-profit juvenile detention centers.
Federal prosecutors said Ciavarella sent youth defendants to the detention centers while he was taking illegal kickbacks from the facilities’ co-owner and builder.
The Supreme Court appointed Grim in February 2009 to examine cases handled by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008. Grim and his law clerk reviewed a representative sample of about 500 cases and found that Ciavarella routinely violated the constitutional rights of juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
Ciavarella sent children as young as 10 to detention, many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to say goodbye to their families
“On initial blush, and as I reviewed the cases on a case-by-case basis, I really found it difficult to wrap my head around what went on in that courtroom, the lack of due process, the rush to judgment,” Grim said Thursday.
At Grim’s recommendation, the Supreme Court in 2009 expunged the records of 2,251 juvenile offenders involved in more than 3,000 criminal cases.
Some youths recovered quickly from the trauma. For others, “it destroyed their lives and in some cases it took their lives,” Grim said.
In his role as special master, Grim also administered a state compensation fund for crime victims targeted by some of the youths who had their convictions dismissed. The judge approved more than $65,000 in restitution to 110 victims — only a fraction of the people who might have been eligible. The Legislature had appropriated $500,000 for restitution.
“There were a lot more victims out there who did not bother to submit a claim. That, to me, is puzzling,” Grim said. “One of my concerns is that some folks are just so turned off on the justice system in general that they didn’t even bother.”
Grim also issued a report recommending changes to Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system.
“All Pennsylvanians owe Judge Grim a debt of gratitude for helping coordinate unprecedented cooperation among all three branches of state government in bringing about a fair resolution to a miscarriage of justice that affected so many juveniles, their families and the community at large,” Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille said in a statement.