Posted: Wednesday, 01 April 2009 11:46AM
Cut The Crap
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Growing up in Wilkes-Barre, disgraced former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella went by the nickname “Scooch.” Don’t ask me how he got it, but the New York Times reports that his father went by the same neighborhood handle.
Now Scooch has a new nickname.
My colleague Nancy Kman has taken to calling the gangster judge who’s preparing for prison by a brand new pet name.
Kman calls Ciavarella (pronounced shiv-a-rella) “The Shiv.”
The new tag is far more appropriate if only because, unlike Scooch, we know that a shiv is prison talk for a homemade knife that convicts carry behind bars. Even if it’s dull, it’s pointed, dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Ciavarella, even when he’s dull, can be described in the same way.
And now, once again, he’s sticking a shiv into the backs of the very people he admits to harming.
The total traumatic aftermath of Ciavarella’s crimes cannot be tallied. We can’t gauge the terrible toll of his crimes. The cost of Ciavarella’s mental carnage against the vulnerable children he unjustly sentenced to prison might even be deadly.
Even now, while preparing for prison, Ciavarella’s ego continues to work overtime, feeding his self-absorbed survival at the expense of the people he was once paid to serve. Even after pleading guilty to federal crimes, Ciavarella wants his pension money.
And he’s filed a motion in federal court on behalf of himself that taunts the vulnerable people he harmed.
Ciavarella argues that judicial immunity prevents his victims from suing him for damages.
Even if I’m corrupt, he argues, you can’t touch me.
The Shiv is twisting the blade of his beastliness, refusing to hear the scream of his targets, wallowing in the despair of his prey.
Attorneys for Ciavarella’s quarry have filed three federal lawsuits against this man who inventoried children and sold them into slavery. These are bright lawyers who vow to fight the perpetrator of these heinous crimes, this knave who treated thousands of minor juvenile offenders like hardened criminals and locked them away in exchange for cash.
However, the Shiv denies any kids for cash scheme.
He was just doing his duty, he claims, in the best interests of justice.
So what if he took kickbacks form the owner of the private prison? Who cares if he defrauded the government by not paying taxes?
The Shiv says he didn’t trade kids for cash. And, even if he did – as federal prosecutors argue he did – nobody can sue him because of a law that grants immunity to judges for decisions they made from the bench.
Defense lawyers argue that Ciavarella, indeed, is protected – but not for all actions he took as a judge.
The courts will decide.
And the Shiv will continue wielding his disgrace like a weapon he needs to protect himself. Such desperate self-defense is understandable. Like any cornered rat, Ciavarella is ready to spring.
Let him leap.
The ongoing federal public corruption probe of the Luzerne County Courthouse is equipped with a crack vector control unit. Investigators have extensive experience with trapped rodents.
And Ciavarella will soon become just another lab animal in a cage.
The Shiv will likely become more concerned about his day-to-day survival than with filing motions and briefs. The power he once wielded like a stiletto will wane and he will probably adapt to the dull routine of prison life.
The sharpest instrument in his life will no longer be his mind, but his potato peeler, if he’s lucky enough to get such a coveted job in the penitentiary kitchen.
Maybe he’ll even pick up a new nickname while he’s inside.
Spud sounds good.
But then, that would be an insult to Mr. Potato Head.
Besides, Ciavarella has no appeal – just a rotting black spot where his conscience used to be.
|
Corbett
E-Mail
Print
