Luzerne County judicial scandal – Overlawyered

Law enforcement for profit roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 11:03:37 +0000

“A Louisiana DA will let you out of your community service obligation — if you donate to his nonprofit” [Radley Balko; Calcasieu Parish, La.]
New study of law enforcement fines and fees finds they bear more heavily on rural residents and have high costs of collection. Also makes a case for periodic forgiveness of mostly-uncollectible balances of old debt [Matthew Menendez, Michael F. Crowley, Lauren-Brooke Eisen, and Noah Atchison, Brennan Center/Texas Public Policy Foundation/Right on Crime]
Oakland County, Mich. “Says Seizing Home Over $8.41 Tax Debt Was OK Because Counties Need Money” [Eric Boehm, Reason first and second posts] “The Unsung Scourge of Home Equity Theft” [Cato podcast with Christina Martin and Caleb Brown]
Georgia: “Doraville Homeowners Win Round One in Lawsuit Challenging City’s Overzealous Ticketing Scheme” [J. Justin Wilson, Institute for Justice]
Here’s a revisionist (though only partly so) account of the Luzerne County, Pa. cash-for-kids judicial scandal, to which we devoted multiple posts at the time [Roger DuPuis, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader]
“Forty-four states have policies of suspending driver’s licenses over unpaid fines, fees or court debts.” Time to rethink [Jenny Kim, WSJ/Koch]

Tags: Detroit, law enforcement for profit, Louisiana, Luzerne County judicial scandal, petty fines and fees, taxes

Law enforcement for profit roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Police and prosecution roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:05:22 +0000

Tony Jalali case: “Anaheim, feds try to seize office building under forfeiture laws because owner rented to medical marijuana dispensaries” [@radleybalko, Institute for Justice]
Judge Ciavarella, of cash-for-kids Pa. scandal, sentenced to 28 years [Citizens Voice, background]
Explosion in US prison population isn’t just from War on Drugs [Pfaff via Greenfield] Reform of (and reduction in) incarceration too important to be left to liberals [Eli Lehrer, Weekly Standard]
“Report details lives ruined for children put on sex-offender registries” [Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity via Lenore Skenazy]
Criminal justice reform, per the NAACP’s Ben Jealous, is “one area where GOP can connect with black voters” [Jeremy Kolassa]
“It’s actually a really good book, making me despise Geragos all the more.” [Scott Greenfield reviews Mistrial] And an oldie but goodie: Greenfield reviews “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Criminal Justice System”;
Alleged “duty injury king” of Cook County jail dethroned after one comp claim too many [Chicago Sun-Times]
Tip from Georgia cops: avoid situations where you might have to cling to hood of moving car [Lowering the Bar]
ABA’s evidently already made up its mind to oppose Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws, but is holding public “hearings” on the topic anyway [ABA Journal]
Don’t forget to check out Cato’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, which you can also follow on Twitter and like on Facebook

Tags: Chicago, crime and punishment, forfeiture, illegal drugs, Luzerne County judicial scandal, sex offender registries, stand your ground, workers' compensation

Police and prosecution roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 28 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:07:17 +0000

Voters unseat prosecutor in office during Luzerne County cash-for-kids scandal [Wendy N. Davis, ABA Journal]
Obama plan for mass refinance overriding terms of mortgages “could permanently drive housing finance costs higher” [James Pethokoukis]
In Sackett v. EPA case, SCOTUS will decide which EPA enforcement actions if any should escape judicial review [Ilya Shapiro/Cato, Adler, Root] Keystone XL episode gives reason to revisit NEPA [Conn Carroll] Ninth Circuit ruling on forest road runoff will test Obama position [David Freddoso]
Debate at Point of Law on President’s recess appointment power between Jason Mazzone and Andrew M. Grossman;
Lobbyists help get traffic-cams back on Connecticut legislative agenda [Chris Fountain]
Read it here first: “Courts push back on bribery prosecutions” [Reuters]
“In my little corner of the Blawgosphere, few things drive traffic like an Overlawyered link. Thank you, @walterolson.” [George Wallace]

Tags: accolades, Connecticut, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Luzerne County judicial scandal, mortgages, red light cameras, Supreme Court

January 28 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Child welfare/protection roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:10:14 +0000

Oh, American Academy of Pediatrics, why are you so consistently wrong? On videogames, on food-ad bans, on guns, CPSIA…
New book by Annette Fuentes, Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse [John Harris, Guardian]
There are genuine problems with some countries’ international adoption practices, but should UNICEF really be pushing toward a “leave the kids in orphanages” alternative? [Nick Gillespie on Reason documentary to be released tomorrow]
At expense of both federalism and religious accommodation, bill entitled “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” (ECDFA) would impose anti-bias rules on state adoption and foster care programs [Washington Blade]
Cash-for-kids Pennsylvania judge: “Former Luzerne judge Conahan sentenced to 17.5 years” [Times-Tribune, our earlier coverage]
“Met a guy who works at my old summer camp. Bunks still do raids on other bunks, but their counselors have to file raid forms first. How sad.” [@adamlisberg]
Sex offender registry horror story #14,283 [Skenazy]
“Safety rules rob pupils of hands-on science, say MPs” [Independent, U.K.]
Gee, who could’ve predicted that? NJ’s aggressive “anti-bullying” law leads to new problems [NYT, Greenfield, PoL, NJLRA] Rapid growth in bullying law assisted by push from Obama administration [WSJ Law Blog, Kenneth Marcus/Federalist Society, Bader]

Tags: bullying, child protection, CPSIA, family law, guns, Luzerne County judicial scandal, recreation, science and scientists, sex offender registries, United Nations, zero tolerance

Child welfare/protection roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:56:31 +0000

Judge Ciavarella defiant after racketeering conviction in Pennsylvania cash-for-kids horror [TheLegalIntel, Sullum and more, WSJ Law Blog, Greenfield, earlier]
Widener lawprof Lawrence Connell facing discipline over hypotheticals in class [Orin Kerr, NLJ, interview at NAS]
“Do we even want to remain a child care center if we have to eliminate all the parts we love?” [Free-Range Kids] Lawsuit fears tame a Frederick, Md. ice playground [same]
Marquette lawprof Rick Esenberg on Wisconsin showdown [first, second, third posts]
A patent owner, the Chicago Tribune and Sen. Durbin: Anatomy of a pool drain scare story [Woldenberg, AmendTheCPSIA.com]
Mayor Thomas Menino vows to save Boston from scourge of everyday low prices [Mark Perry]
“Comp Hearing Scheduled ‘On the Sly’ for Texting Cop Who Caused Fatal Accident” [Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal] “Paying for bad cops” [Balko]
Demand for shaker abstinence: nosy, hectoring CSPI files suit asking that salt in food be subjected to FDA regulation [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Boston, Chicago, law schools, Luzerne County judicial scandal, police, pools, Wal-Mart, Wisconsin, workers' compensation

February 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

More leads in Luzerne County, Pa. judicial scandal

Walter Olson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:48:20 +0000

Before the sensational revelations of corruption in juvenile justice sentencing, investigators had been tipped off about suspicious judicial handling of car-crash arbitrations and suits filed by attorneys in the Pennsylvania county. Those are rumored to be among the focus points of ongoing probes directed at attorneys as well as judges and those in other branches of government. [Legal Intelligencer]

Tags: Luzerne County judicial scandal

More leads in Luzerne County, Pa. judicial scandal is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:19:54 +0000

Pa. cash-for-kids judge allegedly came up with number of months for length of sentence based on how many birds could be seen out his office window [Legal Ethics Forum, with notes on ornithomancy or bird divination through history]; “The Pa. Judicial Scandal: A Closer Look at the Victims” [WSJ Law Blog on Philadelphia Inquirer report]; feds charge third county judge with fraud [Legal Intelligencer, more]; state high court overturns convictions of 6,500 kids who appeared before Ciavarella and Conahan [Greenfield]; judge orders new trial in Ciavarella’s eyebrow-raising $3.5 million defamation verdict against Citizens’ Voice newspaper in Wilkes-Barre; some web resources on scandal [Sullum, scroll to end]
Says drinking was part of her job: “Stripper’s DUI Case Survives Club’s Latest Attack” [OnPoint News, earlier]
Hundreds of lawyers rally to protest Sheriff Arpaio, DA Thomas [Coyote, Greenfield, ABA Journal, Mark Bennett interview with Phoenix attorney Jim Belanger, earlier here, here, and here]. In deposition, Arpaio says he hasn’t read book he co-authored in 2008 on immigration [Balko, Coyote] And as I mentioned a while back, Maricopa D.A. Andrew Thomas turns out to be the very same person as the Andrew Peyton Thomas toward whom I was uncharitable in this Reason piece quite a while back.
Ted Roberts, of the famous sex-extortion case, begins serving five-year term [AP/Dallas News, KENS]
New Hampshire lawsuit over leak of documents to mortgage gadfly site raises First Amendment issues [Volokh, earlier here and here]
Did someone say paid witness? Judge tosses decade-old animal rights case vs. Ringling circus [Orlando Sentinel, Zincavage] Bonus: Ron Coleman, Likelihood of Confusion, on PETA and Michelle Obama;
How’d foreclosure tax get into Connecticut budget when both parties claimed to oppose it? [Ct. News Junkie]
Best-legal-blog picks of Ryan Perlin, who writes “Generation J.D.” for the Maryland Daily Record, include one that’s “humorous though sometimes disheartening”, while La Roxy at Daily Asker salutes a certain website as “Lurid, i.e. satisfying”. Thanks!

Tags: accolades, animal rights, Luzerne County judicial scandal, newspapers, online speech, Phoenix, Roberts sextortion, strippers and exotic dancers

January 8 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:41:43 +0000

Federal judge rejects lenient plea deal for two judges in Luzerne County, Pa. judicial scandal [ABA Journal, Scott Greenfield] More: allegations of extensive abuses including “rampant case-fixing and payoffs” [Hank Grezlak and Leo Strupczewski, Legal Intelligencer] Charges of impropriety in handling defamation case handed down against Wilkes-Barre newspaper [Strupczewski, same] Improprieties in that libel case denied [ABA Journal] Should juvenile convictions by Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. be vacated? [ABA Journal]
Law and a banana: Page-one Wall Street Journal treatment of fruit pesticide litigation fraud [yesterday’s paper, PoL] Further: Cal. Civil Justice (“trained like a parrot”, “super lawyer”), L.A. Times and more, earlier.
“Can it be true that some Girl Scout camps FORBID climbing trees?” [Skenazy, Free Range Kids]
Katy Perry (U.S. pop singer) vs. Katie Perry (Australian fashion designer) trademark lawsuit [Bryan Quigley, Institute for Legal Reform] Suit has now been dropped [Katie Perry website, h/t @lenejohansen]
Emergency room blogger White Coat wraps up his malpractice-suit saga [collected posts]
“Automated shakedown racket sends legal threats, demands cash” [BoingBoing; copyright infringement demand letters]
More coverage of New Mexico baseball-hit-into-stands liability ruling [Hochfelder/PoL, Stossel, earlier]
Do not anger Texas criminal defense law blogger Mark Bennett. Just don’t [Popehat]

Tags: banana pesticide litigation fraud, baseball, copyright, Luzerne County judicial scandal, medical malpractice, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, trademarks, trees

August 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:09:07 +0000

New court allegations that disgraced Luzerne County, Pa. judges fixed civil cases as well [Legal Intelligencer; earlier here and here]
Half-hopeful, half-sad story of Florida town’s efforts to live down “Nub City” insurance-fraud notoriety [St. Petersburg Times a while back, but new to me; Errol Morris film; my review of Ken Dornstein’s book]
Evidence continues to roll in against once-touted theory that bans on smoking in public places result in dramatic overnight drop in heart attack rates [Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, earlier here and here]
Maybe everyone’s too used to such things by now to get riled up by that pic of garishly painted “1-800-LAWYERS” van [Ron Miller; earlier]
Magazines often found on scene at law enforcement raids = guilty magazines that should be banned from mails? [McClatchy “Suits and Sentences” blog; earlier on cockfighting periodicals Apr. 24, etc.]
Lawprofs: Let’s carve bigger religious-conscience exemptions into antibias laws [Robin Wilson, L.A. Times; Dale Carpenter series at Volokh; Ira Lupu, ConcurOp via Orin Kerr]
UK: “Parents sue NHS over ‘wrongful birth’ of disabled son” [Times Online, our earlier coverage of concept]
Throw bloggers in prison because their posts cause emotional distress? Have fifteen members of Congress gone completely mad? [David Kravets, Wired “Threat Level”, earlier]

Tags: animal rights, bloggers and the law, discrimination law, Florida, free speech, insurance fraud, Luzerne County judicial scandal, same-sex marriage, smoking bans, wrongful birth and wrongful life

May 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 2 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:52:24 +0000

Topic we’ve covered before: should the MCAT exam for prospective M.D.s grant extra time to applicants with learning disabilities? [KevinMD]
Virginia blogger Waldo Jaquith fighting subpoena seeking identities of anonymous commenters [Citizen Media Law, earlier]
A free marketer’s case for why fired professor Ward Churchill might deserve to win his case against the University of Colorado [Coyote Blog]
She videotaped cops arresting her son. They took her camera. Could she have it back, please? [Ken @ Popehat]
Despite Obama campaign hints of Second Amendment truce, lower-level appointees far from gun-friendly [Dave Kopel] And new State Department legal advisor Harold Koh pushed international curbs on small-arms trade [Fonte, NRO “Corner”]
U.K.: “Man Who Attempted Suicide Sues Hospital that Saved Him” [Telegraph via Lowering the Bar]
National media jump on Luzerne County, Pa. judicial scandal, some details I hadn’t seen in earlier coverage [NYT, ABA Journal]
Atlanta jury — of 11 women and one lone guy — awards $2.3 million for circumcision injury [Fulton County Daily Report]

Tags: bloggers and the law, colleges and universities, disability & schools, guns, Luzerne County judicial scandal, police, suicide, United Kingdom

April 2 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system