Kids For Cash: Inside One of the Nation's Most Shocking Juvenile Justice Scandals (Part 1 of 3)

http://www.democracynow.org - Today a special on "kids for cash," the shocking story of how thousands of children in Pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received $2.6 million in kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities. We hear from two of the youth: Charlie Balasavage was sent to juvenile detention after his parents unknowingly bought him a stolen scooter. Hillary Transue was detained for creating a MySpace page mocking her assistant high school principal. They were both 14 years old and were sentenced by the same judge, Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is now in jail himself -- serving a 28-year sentence. Balasavage and Transue are featured in the new documentary, "Kids For Cash," by filmmaker Robert May, who also joins us. In addition, we speak to two mothers: Sandy Fonzo, whose son Ed Kenzakoski committed suicide after being imprisoned for years by Judge Ciavarella, and Hillary's mother, Laurene Transue. Putting their stories into context of the larger scandal is attorney Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center. The story is still developing; in October, the private juvenile-detention companies in the scandal settled a civil lawsuit for $2.5 million. Watch the full 50-minute segment: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/4/kids_for_cash_inside_one_of Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,200+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9am ET at http://www.democracynow.org. Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://owl.li/ruJ5Q. FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/democracynow Listen on SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/democracynow Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow Tumblr: http://democracynow.tumblr Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/democracynow/