Mississippi School Charged With Arresting Kids For Flatulence, Wrong Color Socks, Breaking Pencils

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Former Pa. Judge To Go On Trial In Kickbacks Case

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-501363_162-7323612.html

AP/ February 6, 2011, 7:24 PM

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Kids in Luzerne County had a powerful incentive to stay out of the courtroom of Mark Ciavarella, a fearsome, zero-tolerance judge who tossed youths into juvenile detention even when their crimes didn't warrant it.

Ciavarella ordered a 13-year-old boy to spend 48 terrifying days in a private jail for throwing a piece of steak at his mother's boyfriend during an argument. An honor roll student who had never been in trouble before was sent to the same jail, PA Child Care, because she gave the middle finger to a police officer. A girl who accidentally set her house ablaze while playing with a lighter languished in PA Child Care for more than a month - forced to shower naked in front of male guards, she says, and prohibited from hugging her family during rare visits.

She was only 10 years old.