02/04/14 02/04/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! what ever since you have committed, you can't go back and undo it. note --no-nonsense judge.

>> you have s lee bailey bearing kids would have got away. >> it is a mechanism that takes over that keeps kids in the system. >> no one listens because we were kids. up.hey were locking him >> "kids for cash." the shocking story of how thousands of children in pennsylvania were jailed by corrupt judges who received millions of dollars and take ask from private prison facilities. we will be joined by two of the children and a mother whose son committed suicide after being jailed for years. we will also speak to the filmmaker and lawyer who helped expose the scandal. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. across the united states on monday, protesters took to the streets for hundreds of rallies to urge president obama to

reject the keystone xl oil pipeline. the actions in at least 44 states followed a state department report claiming the pipeline's northern leg would have a minimal impact on climate change. environmentalists disagree, saying plans to pipe 830,000 barrels of oil per day from alberta's tar sands to the u.s. gulf coast would accelerate global warming and threaten communities along the pipeline's route. here in new york city, scores of people rallied in union square. >> this issue has artie brought many into the streets within any other environmental issue in decades. it is out of the hands of the bought off bureaucrats who have been delaying it in the state department for years and doing the bidding in the fossil fuel industry. now we are going to find out whether john kerry and barack ofma are similarly captives the oil industry or whether they are willing to really stand up

when it counts for the commitments they've made about climate change. >> the protest came as a new study revealed emissions of toxic blooms from the tar sands have been vastly underestimated. researchers at the university of toronto scarborough say actual levels of pollutants are far higher than estimates accepted by the canadian government. the pollutants have been tied to a higher risk of asthma as well as cancer. secretary jack lew is calling on congress to act quickly to raise the nation's borrowing limit. a temporary suspension of the debt ceiling expires friday after it was passed in october following the government shutdown. jack lew warned a delay because the united states to default on its obligations by the end of the month. without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be possible to meet all of the obligations of the federal government. the longer we wait, the greater the risks become. whether it is the economic recovery in the financial

markets, or the dependability of social security payments and military salaries, these are not things to put at risk. >> major internet firms in the u.s. have begun releasing data about the amount of user information they secretly handover to the government. a legal deal reached last week allows the companies to disclose broad details about the number of orders they receive from the secret foreign intelligence surveillance court. example, reports it received fisa requests for user content affecting at least artie thousand accounts during the first six months of last year alone. in germany, hacker group has filed a criminal complaint accusing the government of chancellor angela merkel of illegally helping you -- united states spar on germany. outcry erupted over the news angelae u.s. spied on herma merkel's cell phone. in a recent interview with the

, edwardv station ndr snowden described the relationship between german and u.s. spy agencies. >> i would describe it as intimate. the first way i describe it in a written interview is the german areices and u.s. services in bed together. they not only share information for reporting the results from intelligence, but they actually sure the tools and infrastructure. they work together against joint targets. there's a lot of danger in this. >> al qaeda has announced ties with or has renounced ties with the powerful militant group active in iraq and syria. al qaeda leader ayman al-zawahiri had previously ordered the islamic state of iraq and the love font to disband and return to iraq, endorsing the nusra front as the group's official branch in syria. fighting between rebel factions in syria has reportedly killed more than 2000 people this year

alone. the iraqi government says it's early and allied tribesmen killed 57 isil fighters in anbar province on monday. afghan president hamid karzai has reportedly been in secret contact with the taliban in a bid to reach a possible peace ofl without the involvement the united states. "the new york times" reports the context could explain karzai's recent refusal to sign a long-term deal to keep u.s. troops in afghanistan, as well as his release of taliban prisoners despite u.s. opposition. than 40 lgbte activists were arrested after blocking the entrance to the idaho state senate. the protesters called for lawmakers to and sexual orientation and gender identity to a law banning other forms of discrimination. the law currently does not define anti-lgbt violence as a hate crime will stop there is no state law in idaho or the federal level to prevent people from being fired or denied

housing because of their sexuality. among those arrested monday was former democratic state senator nicole lefavour. >> we are not leaving until lawmakers return to the committee rooms and begin work .n passing a bill if they don't, they might as well be saying it is fine. too many people being hurt. >> in order to remove nicole lefavour from the senate chamber , the idaho state senate voted to temporarily suspend roles that allow former lawmakers access to the floor. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on "kids foral cash or coat the stock -- shocking story of how thousands of children in pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities. >> i was known for being a

jokester. >> he was always a fireball. >> we were talking about how funny it would be if we made a myspace page. >> that is when everything started. you haveer sins committed, you can't go back and undo it. >> [indiscernible] going to experience prison. i will be glad to put you there. >> there is a mechanism that takes over that keeps kids in the system. >> no one listened because we were kids. >> there was never any incidents of guilt or innocence, they were locking him up. >> he is in their custody now. >> it is unbelievable. >> i wanted them to be scared out of their minds. >> i don't understand how that was a bad thing. former luzerne county judge

faces charges tonight. >> in a scandal known as "kids for cash." >> billions of dollars in return for sending kids to juvenile detention. >> i never sent a kid away for a penny. >> i'm not as mad judge was putting kids in shackles and throwing them away. >> he went there as a free-spirited kid and came out a hardened man. cooks here i was saying, we can test that judge -- >> here i was saying, we can trust that judged to be fair. that is not what happened. >> i was scared every day. >> i was almost 14. all of those years and then -- >> this is not a cash for kids. >> i still wake up from nightmares. >> that is the trailer from "kids for cash." it is a new documentary years in the making, featuring interviews with the kids, parents, and the two judges of the heart of the scandal. the film is set to open in philadelphia wednesday.

well, on monday, i spoke to a number of people featured in the film including charlie balasavage and hillary transue, both 14 years old when they were sentenced to juvenile detention. i began the interview with hillary and her mother laurene transue. juvenileas sent to detention after she created a myspace page mocking her assistant high school principal. her mother called the juvenile law center in philadelphia for help, and sparked an investigation that exposed the kids for cash scandal. i asked hillary how it all began. >> i believe it was to thousand seven -- 2007 when i was on the phone with a friend and we were just chatting and i heard a call from the bottom of the stairs, my mother sounded a rate. she yelled up to me, do you know anything about a myspace page i said, yeah, for months ago. >> how old were you? >> i was 15. >> what was the myspace page? >> it was a parody page about my

vice principal. a couple of friends and i decided it would be funny to make fun of the school disciplinarian on the internet and so we created this page and i remember putting a disclaimer thinking, if anybody finds this, at least i can't get in trouble for it. , youd you said things like talked about her and said, she spends most of her time reading silly teen magazines, daydreaming about johnny depp and nothing but tighty wi hiteys, ooh, la la. >> yes. there were comments on their way by other kids that were obscene. i will admit to that. but they were not my comments. i do believe -- i think i was held responsible for them because they were on the page.

>> so what happened? >> a lot of it is on my moms in. she was on the phone with a police officer and i did not really understand what was going on. >> laurene transue, can you tell us what happened? >> the officer called and asked if hillary was my daughter. i said yes. you said, well, i'm coming down to arrest her for making a myspace page about her vice principal. so i yelled, do you know anything about a myspace page and your system principal? from monthsyeah, ago. the officer started chatting, i heard her, she confessed, him coming down there and arresting her. i'm like, you're not speaking to my daughter without an attorney. let me get an attorney. he started shouting, that is how parents like me are, letting our kids off the hook. and because i was getting attorneys involved, he was going to charge her with internet stalking, abuse of the internet. he told me that they have been watching the internet activity

and that he was coming down to arrest her. >> what about the lawyer for your daughter? >> i got off the phone and i'm like, where my going to find a lawyer at this time of night? >> what time was it? >> it was after i had come home from work. i don't know any lawyers. we are not the kind of folks that have a lawyer on retainer. so i called my mom and said, do you know an attorney? she's like, i do, but not for this and you're overreacting. it sounds like a simple thing that happened, call the officer back. try and talk to him. just follow the law and be cooperative. i'm like, ok. the officer said, you keep the lawyers out of it and i will reduce the charges to a misdemeanor of harassment. unlike, oh, ok, all right, we can do that. are you still coming down? can you wait until i have someone here while you arrest or whatever? >he said, i don't have to come

down, we will send you something mail.e that was in january and we did not hear from him for months. in fact, i called him. >> when did you hear? >> we had to go to juvenile probation and do an interview, bring her per certificate, shot records, that kind of thing. my financial information. they asked some very intimate questions, which was odd. >> you have no lawyer. >> no. i was told to keep the lawyer out of it. we asked the probation officer what would happen now. he said, well, it will probably be probation possibly community service. ok, do we get a lawyer? no, no, we have done the study, you will go to court, whatever. ok. so we went to court and we walked in and they had tables set up by last name. we went to the table there and they said, do you have an attorney? i said, no. they said, sign here.

i'm assuming, this is where we get a public defender. so i signed this blank form. you also have to understand, there were dozens of other parents there with their last namet their table doing the same exact thing. song like, ok, this is how it works. we went in a big room and we saw the -- thought the attorneys would meet us there. nobody came. we sat right outside the courtroom and no attorneys came. the prosecutor came out, the assistant principal was there and she gave him eight kiss on both cheeks and asked how the family was. he said, don't worry bout a thing. we walked in the courtroom and they said, this is the case of and the judge stood up and started screaming at hillary. >> the judge was? >> mark ciavarella. >> what was he screaming? >> first he said, what makes you think you can do this kind of crap? it was really operating.

i was there that day and my mother's clothing because she insisted i look nice and at 15 years old, i did not have anything appropriate. i'm already uncomfortable and he started screaming at me, what makes you think you can do this kind of crap? i was just terrified. i've never been before a judge before, and i wasn't expecting to be screamed at by one. so definitely was jarring. >> what happened? 30i mean, it took about seconds, so it is hard for me to have exact details, that he said something along the lines of adjudicated delinquent, which meant nothing to me. then i remember my mother's hand leaving my shoulders and i remember gliding as if in a dreamlike state to this back room where all i can hear is the

sound of my mother's pleading in her wailing and pleading, and i'm being cuffed -- >> you are being handcuffed? >> yes. the bailiff says, look what you did to your mother. like i said, it is sort of like time stopped and i began to zero after this parallel universe. >> laurene transue, did the judge hand down a sentence right there? >> oh, yes. he said, center her up to think about what she has done. i look at the officer and i'm like, that is not what you said. i'm looking at these people who said it will be probation, possibly committed the service and i'm thinking, this is crazy because i had -- in pennsylvania we have magistrates. i asked, my daughter has been accused of this and pennsylvania law, as an adult, what would be the maximum sentence? ae night in jail and up to

$50 fine. so why on earth what i think they would take my daughter who is never been in trouble, we had no family issues, were not involved in the system in any way, why would i think they would take my daughter away? basically, i started asking him, then i just started -- i became hysterical. >> you sell your daughter handcuffed? >-- you saw your daughter handcuffed? >> no, after he said adjudicated delinquent, i did not hear anything else. i have been a caseworker for many years and i knew what that meant. when i turned, it was like she had evaporated. she was just gone. >> i want to turn to our other guest in the studio right now. charlie balasavage, talk about what happened to you. hillary was 15. how old were you when police first came to your house? >> i was 14. >> how old are you now? >> 23.

>> you're 14 years old and the police came over. why? >> at first i thought it was because i was riding the scooter without a helmet on. it wasn't that. it was that someone had called and reported that scooter was stolen. books where did you get the scooter? >> my parents bought it off a family member. >> they bought it for you from a family member? >> yes. my parents were home at the time so i had to call them. they rushed home and -- >> the police were there. >> yes. the cops arrested all three of us and took us down to the police station. we had to write a statement. we told them what happened, that we bought it and they said, unfortunately, because we did not have no documentation saying that they bought it from a

family member, that they're going to have to charge us with receiving stolen property. parents, if io my take the charges, maybe, i will get probation, maybe not even, just committed the service. so i agreed to it. i'm like, i will do that. otherwise, my parents were going to get charged for it. >> did you have a lawyer? lawyers, this was the suggestion of the cops, that i take the charges and nothing less. so i was like, ok. i ended up having to go into court and when i went to court, it was the same thing. you walk up to the table, the have the form -- >> your mom was with you? >> yes, my mom was with me. she signed it.

we did not have a lawyer. we thought we would get a public defender as well. that is not what happened. we walked into the courtroom and were in there for maybe a minute . the judge already knew what he was going to do with me. >> and the judges name? mark ciavarella. i don't even really remember -- oh, he said, clearly, i have a behavior problem because i had a speech impediment when i was younger and because of it i was made fun of a lot in school, so had a problem going to school and he had records of that. that was my big problem. he sentence to me to three months in camp adams -- >> can't adams -- camp adams? >> it is like a boot camp.

>> had you ever been detained before? >> no. >> did you know where you were going? >> no. they shackled me right there in front of my mother and hold me off. >> how long did you serve in jail? >> it was the three months i had to do at camp adams and then they do a follow-up where i have to go back to court. when i went back to court, i ended up having to go to a place called clearbrook for three because i experiment it with marijuana. truthful and told him, yeah, i tried before. apparently, i had a drug problem at that time so they made me do another three months there. >> when he first went to joe, you talk in the film about having to earn a pillow? >> that was for my first two adams, they have a

system, your first 30 days there, it is called a ranger. you do know --nothing but physical training and stuff like that. every time i would ask for a pillow, no one ever get me one. finally, once i moved past the ranger stage, they moved me to a different cabin and i finally got a pillow. how long didely, you serve in prison? >> altogether? it was about five years. >> five years. inhow did you end up i jail for five years? >> parole violations. i would not go to school or something. >> how did jail affect you? >> i mean, i was in there with

people that actually belong to their -- belonged there. i heard things and i guess i could say i was influenced, i mean, by these people. even staff would say to me, what are you doing here? why are you here? and i would say, i don't know. >> that was charlie balasavage, one of thousands of children convicted in the kids for cash scandal in pennsylvania. we also heard from hillary transue and her mom laurene transue, all three featured in the new documentary, "kids for cash." it premieres wednesday night in philadelphia. it looks how judge mark ciavarella and michael conahan took it back from private prisons. in our next segment, we will speak with sandy fonzo, her son is not with her. you will find out why. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

we continue our special on "kids for cash." the shocking story of how thousands of children in pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks. we returned to our conversation with some of the people featured in the new documentary, "kids for cash." in this segment, we continue speaking with laurene transue, whose daughter hillary was sentenced to juvenile detention for making a myspace page that mocked her assistant principal. first, we turn to sandy fonzo. her 17-year-old son ed kenzakoski was sentenced to 30 days in a juvenile boot camp by judge mark ciavarella. i began by asking sandy to describe how her son ed first came to be arrested. >> just a regular, normal, happy life we had.

the summer of his senior year, what would have been his senior year, he started experimenting a little, too, sneaking out of the house that night. i knew he was drinking. him.s just me and so when i did have a problem with him, he was, i'm going to call your dad and your dad will come. >> he was a star wrestler? >> yes. the scouts were looking at him. for opportunities scholarships. a lot before him, a lot of good. he had a girlfriend at the time that was telling me about stuff he was experiment. just getting a bit out of control. i would call his dad and his dad couldn't do anything anymore. inchbig kid, six foot one and would lift weights all the

time. nothing more than what i did at 17 years old, either, but he just had so much to lose. they got to the point where his wasn'tled one day and ed home, he was supposed to be in school, and he found out he was at an underage drinking problem and he had friends that he graduated with that were cops, so he spoke to them and they were going to go in and put some paraphernalia on him just to get him caught, get him a slap on the wrist, community service, educational program, anything to let him know -- he just has too much to lose. and this is his senior year. he is wrestled since he was four years old. that is what happened. they went and got him. they took him in -- >> they planted drug personnel you in his truck? >> yes. >> a marijuana pipe. >> yes.

so i get the call he is down at the police station, juvenile court isn't until tuesday, so for the weekend, he had to stay in jail. tuesday comes along and we're talking to the probation people -- talking to the judge also. --ere was a sit down with kwok >> judge mark ciavarella. >> this was to scare him, and i met they said there was nothing left to worry about, don't need a lawyer. same story. you got off the elevator and they were there, do you have a lawyer? we were told, no, they told us we don't have to have one. ok. i was just very naïve. never in my wildest dreams would i think these people that were the professionals, have your child's interest, best at heart. these are the people you trust and everything is going to be ok

and you'll learn a lesson in every thing will be fine. we stood there and and 30 seconds he was cuffed and shackled and taken away. that was the worst feeling, seeing him turn and look at me like, what is going on? there was nothing i could do. that is frozen into my psyche for the rest of my life, the look on his face. pay took him to the childcare and said he would be there until he got this psychological evaluation, which we all know was judge michael conahan's son-in-law, brother-in-law? he was doing the psychological evaluations. >> the other judge who ended up being convicted. >> yes. days fromtheir for 30 a got his psychological evaluation -- >> were you able to see him? >> on certain days and certain

times you could go and talk to him. he wanted nothing -- he said, this is so stupid, just want to get back. this is my senior year. he just wanted to get back to school. i had letters from the teachers, in lieu of his character of what a great kid he was, sent to the judge's chambers. anyway, we had to go. we're going now for 30 days. i thought, ok, this was good. he sat there, got his head together, once again back to school, everything is good. we stood back in front of that judge and he was shackled and cuffed and taken to a boot camp at northwestern boot academy in our away from our house will stop total military. they could not speak, could not do anything. a were dressed in military attire. he was with people from all over the committed actual crimes.

this is who my son was in with. , humiliatedt down you. you would not tell me what happened when he was in there. >> how long was he sentenced for? >> three months. and because mark ciavarella said he had a drug problem, then he would have to go to clearbrook, which was a rehabilitation for addiction. by the time my son got there, if he ever did have a problem with drugs or alcohol, he was never treated because they said this kid has been so much time already, we can't even keep him. he was just released and thrown back out, give back your life. they gave him that amount of schooling in there, so never got to go back to his high school. thehe never got to wrestle. he was a mess when he came out of their. >> lost all chance of scholarship. >> he would not talk about what happened in there. >> how long now altogether was he in jail?

>> one month there, three months there -- five months. approximately. but he came out of there a changed person. like i said, he was a 17-year-old free-spirited boy and he came out a hardened man that would not even talk about it. to this day, i don't know what happened to him, but he would never talk about it. he was just a different person. very bottled up. would not speak. the justiceor system at all. he knew he was wrong. he lost his little girlfriend while he was there. at that age, at that impressionable age, yet way too much taken from him. everything he had, really. he ended up getting into a fight while he was still on probation,

so you would have to go in front of judge mark ciavarella again. now mark ciavarella takes him for four months and since then to another facility in the jpa childcare in western pennsylvania for four months, losing his job, loses everything again. the people that worked there could not understand why this almost 20-year-old is doing in this juvenile facility. nobody understood. but he came out of there and that was it. he ended up in a fight, which he -- the fight he did get into that we took to adult court was thrown out. it was just a fight between two kids. but mark ciavarella, four months, he went to his other facility that they were receiving profit for. that was it. he got into a fight. he was sentenced to a state prison for it and he came out and lasted for almost five months, and then -- that's it.

>> and he shot himself. >> yes, in his heart. >> we're talking to sandy fonzo. she is talking about her son ed kenzakoski, who took his own life after an ordeal that lasted years when he ended up originally in the court of judge mark ciavarella. in the midst of what you're saying, sandy, you said you came to know that judge mark ciavarella was now being investigated, even though your son ed would continue to be his victim. that takes us back to laurene transue. when hillary was taken away from you in shackles, you started to investigate the judge your self. explain what happened or at least take some action your self. >> so in the beginning, it was all about my daughter. i don't know that any of this other stuff is going on. they finally is,

let me go from the room i was in a medially following the hearing, allowed me -- actually, they called my husband using my phone. it was very cold that day for april. they sat me outside the courthouse in a metal chair and told me i was not allowed to come back in. as i sat there am i, but i don't know anything. where is she? where's my information? cardhated me a business from the probation department with a man's first name on the back of it and told me that is who i should contact. i had no idea who that was. i husband came and picked me up. you're really in a state of shock when this happens because it is so ridiculous, just you can't fathom it. it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. that first afternoon, my father, my stepmother came, my mother was calling me.

they kept saying, she had to have done something more. there has to be more -- >> more than a myspace page. making fun of her assistant principal. >> i said, there really is nothing else. so i just cried and cried and cried and cried and finally, my father said to me, this is not the laurie i know. she would not sit here and give up. i'm like, but, dad, this is a judge, what am i going to do? he said, you're going to fight. i call the name on the back of the card and it turned out to be a public defender. he laughed when i said, yet the following appeal. he said, ciavarella doesn't allow appeals. i'm like, you're telling me, we can't appeal or that it is pointless or it is not allowed? what are you saying? he said, it is pointless, ciavarella won't even schedule it for you. i'm like, ok, and i call the public defender's office in

harrisburg. pennsylvania is a commonwealth and things are little different. capitol harrisburg and then said, no, of course juveniles can have appeals come up but were not getting involved in a county matter. so i call the governor's action line. they were like, ok, we will make note of this. that said, who else can i call? try the aclu. so i call the aclu the situation they said, absolutely. you have a case. she had a right to put whatever she wants on myspace, especially a parity and to put a designer that is what it is -- and she put a disclaimer of that is what it is. they said, we would be glad to take that case but we won't get involved in this county placement custody thing. numbers, ae other woman at rutgers in new jersey. i was like, ok, i'm a jersey girl, maybe i will get lucky there. i call there and the woman was

so sympathetic and she said, listen, i know a friend of mine who works at juvenile law center in philadelphia and since you are in pennsylvania, maybe they can help you. so i called juvenile law center and i kind of gave them the information. the person i spoke to, he was very, very soft-spoken, not excitable at all. hillary's case. i said, ok. and you would call me back. the next day, he had not called back and so my father said, you give me that number and he called him and the next thing i knew, they were calling me. saying, yes, they were willing to take the case, but not for me. they would not be my attorney, they represent children and it would represent hillary as long as i was agreeable and hillary

was agreeable. would it be ok if they met with her? i'm like, yeah, absolutely. listen, just let me know how much i have to pay because i do have a house and i can get some loans and get some money together. they're like, you don't understand. we are here for children. we want to help your daughter. don't worry about any of that. i said, ok. they went and saw hillary. for the first time, we had hoped. i can still see her -- i wasn't allowed to see her for three weeks. >> you could not see your 15-year-old daughter for three weeks? >> the first phone call was dirty seconds, and we were both apologizing to each other, sobbing. it was a conversation of "i'm sorry." that was our one minute and then it was over. i think the next week we got five minutes and then eight minutes. is there listening.

if she started to talk about anything to do with you a lawyer and getting out of there, they cut her off. >> i want to fast-forward to 2011. is charged,ella tried, and convicted. 's is eight years after sandy son first was confronted by the judge and sent away. is so after judge ciavarella convicted, sandy fonzo, who has now lost her son ed kenzakoski who shot himself in the heart, she confronts the judge. >> this is not a cash for kids case and we hope -- >> it wasn't? because my kids here anymore. he's dead because of him. he ruined my life! i would like him to go to hell and right there forever. they need to be held accountable for their actions. you are a member may?

do you remember my son? he's dead. he shot himself in the heart, you scumbag. >> talk about that, sandy. you were there for his trial? >> i plan on being and when it came up, i could not get myself to go and sit there and remember him and hear the lies and i kept heelf away and tell the day was found guilty. i wanted to be there. i was actually working and i kept getting messages from everybody that he was found guilty of this and guilty of that. i'm having a panic attack. they're going to take him, shackle him and take him and he's going away today. i was a mess by now, and emotional train wreck. everybody at work was like, go. i just wanted to see him come out of their in shackles. i wanted to see him go away. i don't know how i got myself there, somehow i drove myself there. nobody knew i was there.

work.ody thought i was at i don't remember the ride at all. i just ended up there. while i'm standing out there, i learned he was going to be daughter plus -- daughters custody and he won't be going to jail. i just lost all hope again. it always seems like you're just let down all the time. they were going to do a press release and he was coming out with his lawyer -- >> to do a press conference on the steps of the court. >> on the steps of the courthouse. i just went with all of the media and everybody that was there when he came out and i was just there and i had no idea, thishen they started -- was not kids for cash, i just lost it. i don't remember what came out of my mouth. all i know is that i remember being taken across the street after that and that's all i remember.

>> that was sandy fonzo. son ed kenzakoski killed himself after years in and out of jail. when we come back, we will speak to the lawyer who helped hold the judges countable in the film, "kids for cash." ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today we're spending the hour "kids for cash" can occur in the shocking story of how thousands of children in pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prisons. let's turn to an excerpt of the new documentary, "kids for cash." this clip features one of the jailed children, amanda lorah. >> i was in eighth grade, 13.

me and this girl used to be friends. she was calling me a slut and whore because we were not friends anymore. i threw a volleyball at her. when she walked by me, she didn't a hair flip in my face and it was over. we ended up fighting. they took me to the office. the police officer called my father, told him to come get his crazy daughter out of their school. >> your kid was locked up for slapping a girl? it should never have gone any further than the local magistrate. they should have suspended her, not send her to a juvenile judge. and to find out it was all from greed. this lady pulled my dad back and grabbed my arm and was like, come with me. >> that is a clip from the new film, "kids for cash." the film's director and producer, robert may, joins us now.

his past films are, "the war tapes" and the oscar-winning "fog of war." schwartz,ed by robert executive director of the juvenile law center in pennsylvania and he began by criticizing the legal nudity for failing to stop the scandal. >> the whole legal community passing through the courtroom who did nothing over a five-year period. the outlook offender did nothing. didhe public defender nothing. the investigation showed they did not want to take on more cases and surly did not want to take on judge ciavarella. the prosecutors were there for every case. they saw kids being shackled and dragged out. but a lot of people say, well, they're the prosecutors. >> but haven't ethical obligation. the code as well. probation officers saw kids were being dragged out of the courtroom for minor stuff while the rest of the country is moving toward a treat kids in

the community, d incarcerate this juvenile justice system and judge ciavarella's court, it was the opposite. it was, since kids away. one after the other, were sent away. >> you already felt the judge so guilty for singing away many kids, talking thousands of kids. >> we knew he had violated the rights of hundreds and hundreds of kids at the time we did our initial investigation. 2008, we filed an application with the pennsylvania supreme court, asking them to reverse all of these adjudications of the one quincy for these findings of guilt -- of delinquency committee's findings of guilt. we asked them to exercise what we called the ability to act even though the time for appeal had lapsed. petition, the the

fbi called our chief counsel marshall levick and asked what we knew. unbeknownst to us, they had started an investigation of their own of judge conahan, the former president judge of luzerne county, because of his connections with organized crime. there were a couple of threads happening at the same time that intersected. finally, came to the public 2009 when thery u.s. attorney for the middle district of conserving issue the bills of information with pulmonary guilty pleas for judge ciavarella and judge conahan. >> ciavarella explain what ciavarella was charged with and this whole issue of kids for cash. >> judge ciavarella was charged --h theft of lawful services that makes it unlawful -- wire fraud, tax evasion and the original bill of information

that he and conahan signed can also spoke about it quid pro quo, taking money to have kids locked up. what we did know for sure is that he is taking money or was charged with taking money in the original plea agreements from the contractor who built a new detention center in luzerne county and from while one of the owners of the for-profit facility that was subsequently built. >> which brings us to robert may, the director and producer of this film "kids for cash." his past films include "the war tapes" and the oscar-winning "fog of war." "the war tapes" and the oscar-winning "fog of war." you did something unusual. you not only began over the next years to capture the stories of the families, of the parents and the kids who were sent away, but you also managed to talk to both judges who were convicted, but you did it well before they were convicted. explain. well, we initially said,

look, we're not going to do this movie unless we can speak -- it would just become another story with a sort of one-dimensional story. the kids story seemed so obvious. there had to be more to the story. we wanted to understand more what that would be. >> how did you get these judges to talk? >> it took some time because i did not know the men all, had never met them before. once i figured out how to meet with judge ciavarella, the pitch was quite simple. i said, i think there's sort of a one-dimensional story that is being portrayed, primarily by the media, that you are the kids for cash judge. you took money to send the kids away. that is what i see in what i read. i assume there's another side of the story. >> let me go to a clip from your film, "kids for cash." former judge mark ciavarella. >> i have not told my attorney

that i agreed to do this documentary. and maybe me doing what i'm doing is going to come back to hurt me, but i felt this was an opportunity for me to let people know what really happened. i'm not as mad judge that was just throwing kids away and shipping them out and locking them up, putting them in shackles. no one would ever look at the whole picture. they only wanted to look at a little bit of the picture. the media was just focused on cash for kids. if that was something the feds wanted to charge us with, then bring the charges and we will go to trial. >> so there is judge mark ciavarella. , explain these conversations you had with him over a period of years. he said it wasn't kids for cash. >> right. we wanted to follow the active story from a literally, follow

him and the other judge through the prosecution, what was all going to happen. ar interview process takes long time. they're very conversational. we covered all sorts of things of the judges earliest memories all the way through the prosecution. we developed a level of trust were he just started talking to us about all of it and in great detail. >> and judge michael conahan? why did he decide to do this and what about the relationship between these two judges? >> michael conahan, when he was judge, he had an immense power. he really did. he was a judge but never gave a comment to the media. he never spoke to the media. it was very unusual for us to get him, really. but he, too, felt the story was portrayed as one-sided and he wanted to take the opportunity to share his side of the story. >> this goes to the issue of

zero-tolerance policy. talk about the reconsideration of that, where it is being reconsidered, where it isn't, even up to president obama. >> that is a great question. zero tolerance policy damages 1990's -- came into favor in the 1990's. kids were being expelled for very little. after columbine, got worse -- not in terms of legitimately tilling with the gun issue, but legitimately dealing with trivial offenses in school. the minister at us could get rid of kids they did not want in the classroom. there has been a gradual backlash over the last five to 10 years. this story is part of that backlash. parents advocates, children's lawyers, dignity and schools campaign, many of our colleagues have worked to undo really quite

silly zero-tolerance policies. in early january, the department of justice and department of education in washington for federal agencies, issued guidance to the 15,000 or so school districts in the united states saying, you really have to be careful because the zero-tolerance policies are being applied incorrectly without fairness, without application for racial and ethnic disparities which are really hurting kids. so for the first time, we have the federal government saying, slow down. what seemed reasonable 20 years ago, in practice, has turned out to be remarkably unreasonable and unfair to children and to families and to communities. >> robert may, what were you most surprised by and making this film? it has taken you years to make this film. >> i was most surprised by the fortitude of families in the kids.

and how smart they really are. the families and the kids. these are families i think that note ciavarella judged as worthy or something. it's hard to say. the stigma of this kid did something wrong, therefore the kid is flawed. in spending time with the kids and families has been amazing for me because these are really smart people. these kits have been deprived and education. not all, but most. is exception. she narrowly escaped not having that, however. if ank in society we think kid gets into trouble, especially if they are labeled a juvenile delinquent, we think, they're just a bad kid. i don't want my kids to be associated with them. i have two teenagers. i used to think that way. i used to think, that kid gets in the trouble, i don't want my kid near them.

and the parents, too. they're all bad. the other thing i learned, it wasn't just the kids that went through the trauma, but the parents as well, the family. the families have gone through tremendous trauma. often, the kid gets punished in some cases the pants are doing as well. it is a combination thing. -- the parents are doing as well. it is accommodation thing. we followed other stories that did not make it into the film. forever they will be in my heart . i care about the mall. >> that was robert may, the director of producer of the new documentary, "kids for cash." robert schwartz, executive director of the juvenile law center in philadelphia, his opinion. judge mark ciavarella is really serving a sentence and conahan serving 17 years for taking $2.6 million from two private prisons. ciavarella is serving his sentence in illinois and conahan

in florida. both spoke to robert may before they went to jail. in october, the private juvenile detention companies at the heart of the kids for cash scandal in pennsylvania settled a civil lawsuit for $2.5 million. the film, "it's for cash" is to open wednesday night in philadelphia. it then opens in theaters nationwide. we will host -- post details on our website and you can also visit our website for past coverage of the scandal. that is democracynow.org. happy birthday tohugh gran. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]