Wow! Kids-For-Cash Judgement

I have posted before on the Pennsylvania Kids-For-Cash scandal where judges would take money for sentencing kids to private jails. Often the kids were completely innocent or had committed only minor infractions. 

Now Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, the two judges who orchestrated the scheme, were ordered to pay $200 million to the victims. 

Yes! I was pumping air when I read the story. Finally some bad judges are held accountable. 

"Ciavarella and Conahan abandoned their oath and breached the public trust," Conner wrote Tuesday in his explanation of the judgment. "Their cruel and despicable actions victimized a vulnerable population of young people, many of whom were suffering from emotional issues and mental health concerns."

It is a long road ahead before most lawyers and judges are held accountable for their crimes and ethical violations but it is a start. A good start.