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I would sentence them to 87 months on a fire ant hill

February 16, 2009

There's something sad when somebody goes to jail. Even when the person is clearly guilty, prisons are grim places. Sometimes prison terms for tax violations seem especially cruel, even though you realize they do it to frighten the rest of us into compliance, to keep others from making the same mistake. Even though prison may be well-earned, it can take a hard heart not to have a twinge of sympathy for a convict who's about to go away from the comforts of home to the concrete dormitory.

But there are exceptions. Two tax convicts from Pennsylvania deserve whatever they get, and then some. Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan are judges who pleaded guilty to taking bribes from the operator of a private juvenile prison for railroading kids into the facility. From the Philidelphia Inquirer:

Many of the kids were railroaded, according to allegations lodged with the state Supreme Court last year by the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, an advocacy group.
In asking the court to intervene in April, the law center cited hundreds of examples where teens accused of minor mischief were pressured to waive their right to lawyers, and then shipped to a detention center.

One teen was given a 90-day sentence for having parodied a school administrator online. Such unwarranted detentions left "both children and parents feeling bewildered, violated and traumatized," center lawyers said.

My tear ducts are just dry for these guys. The TaxGrrrl, a Pennsylvania lawyer, reports that they have little sympathy elsewhere:

As for Ciavarella and Conahan? The two men, clearly hated (shouts of “Rot in hell!” resonated on the streets as they left the courthouse) remain free on bail until sentencing.

The plea deal calls for 87 months in prison on charges that include not reporting their bribes as income, but the sentencing judge has the final say. Russ Fox and Jacob Sullum have more.