Luzerne County Judges

A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Jan. 26 – Federal prosecutors charge Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan with receiving more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings they made that financially benefited a juvenile detention facility.

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Jan. 27 - Attorney Barry Dyller, who specializes in civil rights cases, said he believes some of the juveniles who were incarcerated under juvenile Judge Mark Ciavarella’s tenure have a strong basis to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for emotional and financial harm.

Feb. 13 - Two class action lawsuits are filed against Ciavarella and Conahan and several others who are alleged to have participated in a scheme to place juveniles at two detention centers that are the focus of a probe into the Luzerne County judiciary. The suits were separately filed by attorney Michael Cefalo of West Pittston on behalf of Florence Wallace of Shavertown and her 15-year-old daughter, and attorney Barry H. Dyller of Wilkes-Barre on behalf of 13 juveniles and their parents.

Feb. 23 - County Solicitor Vito DeLuca said Luzerne County is not liable for any alleged misdeeds of judges, because judges are state employees supervised by the state Supreme Court.

March 10 - Attorneys for the Juvenile Law Center added racketeering claims to the civil case.

March 30 - Luzerne County and another former probation department official are added as defendants to one suit.

Dyller filed an amended complaint, alleging the county is partly liable because Ciavarella and Conahan were the highest office holders in the county, therefore their decisions constituted county “policy and custom.”

April 6 - A federal lawsuit was filed by a Pittston woman against Ciavarella and Conahan, along with others implicated in the juvenile-sentencing kickback scandal. The complaint accuses the judges, attorney Robert Powell, Greg Zappala, Robert Mericle, the judges’ wives, Barbara Conahan and Cindy Ciavarella, Luzerne County and former county employees Sandra Brulo and Michael Loughney of participating in racketeering that deprived Samantha Humanik, 19, of her civil rights.

April 23 - The Juvenile Law Center added Luzerne County as a defendant in its juvenile rights lawsuit, alleging county officials had an obligation to speak up to prevent former Judge Mark Ciavarella from violating juveniles’ right to have an attorney present at court hearings.

June 26 – The suits filed on behalf of hundreds of juveniles who allege they were wrongly incarcerated are consolidated into two master complaints - a move attorneys said will likely help speed resolution of the cases.

July 21 - Thousands of juvenile offenders could lose the ability to recover damages from Ciavarella because the state Supreme Court refused to preserve key juvenile records, attorneys for victims of the scandal said. In a harshly worded legal filing, the attorneys accused the high court of sabotaging the federal claims of children whose constitutional rights were allegedly violated by Ciavarella.

July 23 - Gregory Zappala , the owner of the two juvenile detention facilities at the heart of the Luzerne County juvenile justice scandal, is dismissed as a defendant.

Sept. 22 - A group of 19 former judges and legal scholars concerned about protecting the integrity of the judicial system have filed court papers opposing efforts by Conahan and Ciavarella to have themselves dismissed from a class action lawsuit.

Nov. 9 - The law firm owned by attorney Robert Powell is dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of juveniles who allege they were wrongly incarcerated as part of a scheme to benefit Powell and others financially.