This case has been going on for some time now. Still of interest to be aware of:
Wikipedia – Two judges, President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan, were accused (and were eventually convicted) of accepting money from Robert Mericle, builder of two private, for-profit youth centers for the detention of juveniles, in return for contracting with the facilities and imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles brought before their courts to increase the number of residents in the centers.[1][2]
Acting under a rarely used power established in 1722 and reserved for extraordinary circumstances, known as “King’s Bench jurisdiction“,[47] the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed a special master on February 11, 2009 to review all juvenile cases handled by Ciavarella.
You can prosecute and win…
During his sentencing Ciavarella was defiant, claiming he had broken no laws and claimed the money he received was a legitimate ‘finder’s fee.’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod said comments such as these were typical of Ciavarella, according to the local reporting of citizensvoice.com:
