A Berks County judge brought in to clean up after a “kids for cash” scandal has expunged every juvenile court case decided by a judge convicted of corruption. 

Senior Judge Arthur Grim was selected almost three years ago to review juvenile court cases decided by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who’s serving time in jail for his involvement in the corruption case. 

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille said Grim cleared the records of 2,251 juveniles whose cases were decided by former judge Mark Ciavarella.  The former Luzerne County judge and another ex-judge were convicted for funneling juveniles to youth detention centers run by a local developer, Robert Mericle. 

“He was the one that built these detention centers and also offered the two million dollars to the two judges as he called it, a finder’s fee,” said Castille.  “As the federal government called it, a bribe.”

In a final report to the state Supreme Court, Grim called the handling of juvenile cases in Luzerne County a judicial process “run amok,” and he gave recommendations to prevent such renegade justice again.  Among them: open juvenile court proceedings to the public, think about creating an ombudsperson for each county juvenile court, and beef up overseeing agencies with more resources and staff.  Grim also suggests legislative action to create a statewide juvenile victim advocate, and proposes allocating state money for the legal defense of poor juveniles.

Castille said the courts have already changed some procedural rules to make sure juvenile defendants are treated more fairly.

One such change is not allowing non-violent juveniles to be shackled in court, a practice of Ciavarella’s, according to Castille.

“He’d find them guilty of, say, shoplifting, and he’d order them shackled and hauled out of court right then and there,” Castille said.  “We’ve put a stop to that particular practice.  You don’t want to be shackled and hauled out of court if you’re nonviolent or not dangerous.  It’s kind of demeaning.”

Grim also gave out $65,000 in restitution for those who were awarded damages by the juveniles originally sentenced by Ciavarella. 

“Say if a juvenile you know broke a car window, and the judge ordered restitution.  We expunged the case, which means there’s no legal liability by that juvenile,” said Castille.  The restitution fund ensures that damages payments don’t slip through the cracks, leaving victims of juvenile crimes hanging.  Castille said the fund was created by the state Legislature. 

Castille said Grim did a great job with an “astounding” task, ultimately expunging every case that Ciavarella sat on and decided in the juvenile justice system in Luzerne County.

“Uniformly our court saw this as a disgrace and a tragedy.  This was a judge that was totally trampling and ignoring the rights of the juveniles or kids charged with crime in Luzerne County,” said Castille.  “We had never seen anything like that.”