Get This Story Straight
Steve Corbett Reporting
Monday, March 09, 2009
Enough is enough.
Disgraced Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. doesn’t seem to understand that he’s an admitted criminal who’s headed to prison for his severe wrongdoing.
After pleading guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks in connection with juvenile detention contracts, a British newspaper reported over the weekend that Ciavarella said in an interview that he only wanted to “help these kids straighten out their lives.”
As for the prosecution’s claim that Ciavarella engaged in a quid pro quo, Ciavarella denied that as well.
“Cash for kids? It never happened. People have jumped to conclusions – I didn’t do any of these things,” Ciavarella said, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Any of what things?
I sat in the courtroom in Scranton and watched Ciavarella plead guilty. I heard him say he was guilty.
At no time did Ciavarella interrupt the judge to argue that he didn’t “do any of these things.”
Ciavarella did disagree through his attorney Al Flora Jr. that he did not exchange one thing for another – namely children for money.
Prosecutors firmly argue that’s exactly what he did.
The judge agreed to take the discrepancy into consideration and perhaps order a hearing to clear up this one little detail
Still, that didn’t stop the agreement from going through and having Ciavarella and his partner in crime, former Judge Michael Conahan, formally sign off on it.
The judge must schedule that hearing as soon as possible. Because as long as Ciavarella continues to talk out of both sides of his mouth, the people do not know exactly what guilt he is admitting.
When Citizens Voice reporter Dave Janoski contacted Flora, the lawyer said he didn’t know about his client’s interview with the British reporter. That cavalier disrespect of his own counsel shows Ciavarella’s continuing disregard for protocol and his loose cannon attitude that he’s above reproach.
The judge also should seriously consider voiding the plea agreement.
If Ciavarella believes that he’s not guilty and did not “do any of these things,” then he should go to trial.
Defendants who publicly proclaim their innocence to the world as Ciavarella did must not be allowed to plead guilty. To allow such double-talk to stand makes a travesty of the justice system.
A public trial would allow Ciavarella to mount a vigorous defense rather than letting the public hear only piecemeal facts as they surface. A public trial would allow the public to once and for all hear the case against the judge. A public trial would answer our questions once and for all.
This interview only further clouds an issue that needs as much transparency as possible.
The government owes the people as much full disclosure as possible.
The judge should also order a complete psychiatric examination for Ciavarella. The people need to know that he is competent to stand trial and that his delusions of grandeur and narcissistic megalomania have not usurped his command of reality.
We already know that Ciavarella is a public menace.
But compassion requires that we also know Ciavarella is not a danger to himself.
Perhaps this desperate man should be protected from himself. A just society looks out for those who are not capable of looking out for their own best interests. Real justice depends on a merciful system that intercedes on behalf of the weak.
Ciavarella is weak and his false bravado is not appreciated.
If in fact he is emotionally unbalanced, he needs to be treated as soon and as humanely as possible.
A courtroom is the best platform from which to gauge Ciavarella’s stability.
If he’s acquitted, he can seek treatment in a nice private facility. If he’s guilty, he can bed down in a sterile prison hospital.
Either way, Ciavarella is pushing our patience to the breaking point with his two-faced Jekyll and Hyde drama.
We need to know the truth.
And the government has a duty to find it.
We also need to help Ciavarella straighten out his life.
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Corbett
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