Lawsuit against ex-judges dropped in ‘kids for cash’ case

    A lawsuit against two former Pennsylvania judges who were involved a scandal that became known as “kids for cash” has been dropped.

    The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reports Raul Clark filed a lawsuit in 2009 alleging that former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. had directed him to count the number of birds outside the courtroom, then sentenced him to detention according to that number— six months —at a November 2002 hearing.

    A lawyer filed a motion Wednesday saying the plaintiffs have opted into court-approved class settlements in the case.

    Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are serving prison sentences for accepting bribes in exchange for ordering youths to for-profit detention centers co-owned by Robert Powell.

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    Powell reached a nearly $5 million settlement with the juveniles in March 2015.

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