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This is a beautifully made film about the huge judicial scandal that became known as "kids for cash." Basically, two judges in Pennsylvania secretly received millions of dollars from the owners of a for-profit prison for juveniles in their jurisdiction, while at the same time pulling strings to give the prison a monopoly on juvenile detentions and (in the case of one of the judges) sentencing hundreds (literally, hundreds) of juveniles to years of incarceration in the same prison, without due process and often for truly minor misbehavior.

The documentary tells its story through interviews, news footage, and a limited number of title cards. There is no narrator, and the voice(s) of the interviewer(s) are not heard. The focus is on five of the hundreds of teenagers who were imprisoned in this scam: Charlie Balasavage, Justin Bodnar, Hillary Transue, Edward Kenzakoski, and Amanda Lorah. The interviews with the victims are heartbreaking. We also hear from the two judges (Ciavarella and Conahan), who allowed themselves to be interviewed for the film while the federal cases against them were pending. In some ways, this footage, while infuriating to watch, was the most interesting aspect of the film. Among the other interviewees are Terrie Morgan, the reporter who mainly covered the scandal for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (and who serves as a de facto narrator), and Marsha Levick and Robert Schwartz, two attorneys with the non-profit Juvenile Law Center who worked to have the cases affected by the scandal vacated.

The events covered here present dangerously rich material for a filmmaker. Should the story be about money? About power? About the juvenile justice system in general? The one weakness of the film is that it moves around among all of these themes without clearly digging into any of them. The opening and closing title sequences suggest that the third, broadest theme is the focus. But if so, why use the damage caused by two judges who were clearly corrupt as the vehicle?

Despite that flaw, the film deserves 8 stars for its excellent production values and, most of all, the powerful interview footage, which brings home the effects the scam has had on so many lives.

Greetings again from the darkness. Focusing on "the honorable" Judge Ciavarelli and Judge Conahan of Pennsylvania, director Robert May (The War Tapes) provides some insight into a despicable miscarriage of justice that the media labeled Kids for Cash. It's a catchy phrase that can be defined as a convergence of some less-than-favorable traits: abuse of power, over-the-top greed, and a collapse of trust in the juvenile justice system.

The talking head approach is on full display, and proves quite effective here. We get interviews and statements from attorneys, journalists, citizens, a particularly vocal radio talk show, and surprisingly, even Judge Ciavarelli and Judge Conahan. The biggest wallop comes from the words and body language of those most directly impacted – the kids and their parents.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Ciavarelli and Conahan were charged in various felonies related to their conspiratorial actions that led to the closing of a County facility, the fundraising for a new private facility, and the subsequent sentencing of thousands of kids to ensure the facility remained at capacity. The financial rewards for these two men included "finder's fees" ($2 million for Ciavarelli), or what most others would term bribes or kickbacks.

The actions of Judge Ciavarelli are defended by his staunch campaign strategy of "Zero Tolerance" in the wake of the Columbine tragedy. Once elected, his frequent speeches at local schools reinforced his commitment to zero tolerance, and his promise to severely penalize any kid that ran afoul of the law. In theory, most of this sounds like a formidable stance, however, the real problem occurs when the test of reasonableness is absent in the charging of teenagers with a crime. This is where the film falls a bit short. The kids going to court makes a dramatic story, but the missing link is HOW does this happen when most of these cases come across as schoolyard dust-ups, typical teenager antics (a MySpace page), and simply part of the maturing process for adolescents?

There is an acknowledgment that most young teenagers don't have the necessary decision-making skills or sense of judgment to handle these situations. The point is well made that teenagers are not just little adults … there is much growth to come, both physically and intellectually. This leads to the real question: why aren't we doing a better job of allowing kids to develop their judgment and dispute resolution skills. The pizza shop guy in the movie says "we all got in playground fights". He's right! But these days, that gets the kid (even first time offenders) arrested and possibly sent away … where they come back hardened and angry. This approach is not working - though, I'm certainly not suggesting mass playground fights. There has to be a better way.

With so much attention to the (then) upcoming trials of the two judges, the film's tone shifts to one of revenge and reckoning. It's an emotional and powerful time, and neither of the judges come across as believable or likable. In fact, Conahan strikes a plea bargain, and Ciavarelli defiantly states he is not guilty of "kids for cash" … AFTER being found guilty of 12 felonies on related issues! His true character shines through.

The film expertly tells the story … often very personal stories … of some of those impacted by the Kids for Cash scandal. It raises many questions on numerous topics, though most are overshadowed by the focus on the judges' trials. Near the end, many statistics are displayed – some of which could support their own documentary. The real impact of a documentary is judged by its call to action – the ability to get people involved in finding answers and solutions. Let's hope the impact is profound, even if it's too late for some.

Kids for Cash is a neat documentary covering the unfolding of the "Kids for Cash" scandal in Luzern country, PA, where two judges sent more than two thousand children to a juvenile detention center while getting paybacks from the private operation of the same facility.

The filmmakers had personal access to both accused judges, who gave lengthy interviews on camera. However, the producers didn't let that fact cloud their views on the whole affair as it is common in such productions. Instead, we have several interviews with young victims of the scheme and their parents.

What is not so good about the movie are is the parallelism of the stories of victims they follow. The cut points on the narratives look hastily put together instead of carefully chosen to permeate the viewer to the individuality and commonality of each story.

At the end, viewers are left with the impression of two corrupt men who genuinely think they weren't doing anything wrong other than some minor procedural violations. Although not the main theme of the documentary, one is left to wonder how horrendously normalized it had become to just take "bad kids" away from school and send them to correctional facilities.

having just watched this doc i am left feeling that it could have been more complete.

As others have pointed out - no mention of the Prison/Detention Centre for profit angle, which caused the issue in the first place. No mention on what happened to the owner of the facility who paid them the 'finder's fee'.

I guess that would have probably dragged the running time too long, and the topic has been covered elsewhere already (most notably in my opinion in the excellent "The house i live in"). But still a couple of minutes to explain the root cause (apart from greed) would have helped.

Also - no real scientific explanation on the reason why kids should not be treated as adults to begin with. And no explanation why the USA did not sign the UN Charter?

Having said that - it tried to be a well balanced piece - but the most serious flaw to me was the failure to mention the yacht and luxury condos the 2 judges bought with the money. And how they channeled the funds through various accounts and companies so that it would be well hidden. I had to dig this bit of information up myself after viewing the doc. This would negate the small part of me that actually still had some sympathy for judge Ciavarella after his tearful passage at the end of the documentary.

He did not just 'pay some debts and provide for his kids'.

Plain greed.

I concur with the Judge on this. Not guilty of cash for kids.

It appears from this documentary that there were no ongoing payments for keeping the facilities full. The Judge had a reputation of sending juveniles down (prior to the decision to close the original facility).

Guilty of bribery and corruption yes. Guilty of robbing the juveniles of their right to representation, but that was not on the charge sheet.

The judge does describe an incident in his youth where he said his father clobbered him for attempting to steal a car. Would you rather get punched in the mouth or be sent to lock-up? That is what I would like to ask that creep.

The problem lies with the system. Two million children arrested each year; 95% are for non violent crimes. This reflects the adult prison population in the USA which has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and more prisoners than the rest of the world combined.

Many of these prisons are privately owned slave plantations. The justice system is corrupted by prison for profit.

The parole system ensures a rapid recycling of ex cons back into the system and more profits for prison owners (like Bill Gates)

The USA is a corrupted violent society. It's collapse is imminent.

The facts at the end of the documentary are a sad indictment of the US and it's propensity to violence

Take a good look at this film and be prepared to be shocked and angry. Very shocked and very angry, that is, if you believe in decency and justice. It's an intimate look at two judges who took bribes to send children to jail, often for non-existent crimes or for petty, relatively insignificant things kids do because they're kids. Some of these children committed suicide, the rest all had their lives ruined. And the sick punchline? The crooked judges don't see what they did as wrong but rather just "administrative decisions". Sure, the judges went to jail but I'm sure they just see that as an "administrative decision" as well. Look at them closely. They're faces of the banality of evil. Much like the Nazis operating the death camps during WWII, they justify their actions as merely methods of the time. One of the criminals portrayed, the pompously righteous Judge Ciavarella pretended to be a "law and order" judge when in fact he was a greedy sociopath, not much different than the death camp dentists who ripped the gold teeth from Jews for joyful profit.

But whatever you do, don't see this as an isolated incident that has been taken care of. It still exists today. Most Americans are oblivious to the Prisons for Profit system, the same system that was giving huge kickbacks to these judges to incarcerate children for greed. The real sick thing about this documentary? The Prisons for Profit not only still exist, they're bigger than ever. And the terrible punchline to this story? You likely won't ever hear about judges being arrested for getting kickbacks for sentencing children to jail anymore. Now they can legally own stock and have other financial interests in this Prisons for Profit system that is flourishing. The same prisons they sentence "offenders" to serve long, profitable sentences. The fastest growth industry in the last 30 years in America. And most Americans are still oblivious to it. Your legal system has been sold, America and the blood, sweat, tears, and lives of your children and others who shouldn't be jailed will continue to line the pockets of evil people like these two judges who only saw children as a way to make money, caring not for their ruined - and ended - lives.

Watch this and get angry, very angry. And start talking about the evil that is destroying what used to be a somewhat fair legal system. That is, if you care at all about justice and decency. And your country. And your fellow men, women and children.

Kids for Cash is a documentary that shows the horrific miss sentencing of several young American kids as a ploy for the judges receiving cash in hand by sending these kids to private detention centres. Throughout the documentary you can't help but feel for these kids who have had upwards of seven years of their life thrown away due to greed and selfishness of the authority figures. Though the documentary travels on both sides of the fence (between the judges fault and not the judges fault) the bulk of the film views the head judge as this overly conservative man who has only his own interests in hand.

One great documentary and never gets boring. Though the documentary will polarise views of the situation, anyone who is interested in this case will be glad they had watched this gem.

The documentary centers around the kick back money recieved by two judges, illegally, from a complex funding operation for building a juvenile prison. The juvenile court judge states he wanted to build a prison that was sanitary. So he utilized his own resources, from a beer company to a strip club, which he has business ties, and privately funds building the jail. The same jail he will be sentencing the juveniles to. But that's not even close to the real dilemma.

This all takes place post Columbine, so a ZERO tolerance is placed. Zero tolerance meaning they are going to weed out the trouble makers by any means necessary. Here are some examples of ZERO TOLERANCE:

A juvenile purchases a scooter for $250. The police finds out the scooter was originally stolen. He is sentenced to five years in prison.

A girl gets in a fight in school and is sentenced the same.

A juvenile gets in an argument with a parent at a bus stop. As the parent is cursing and shouting its the boy who gets sentenced to 4 years of prison.

All three of those kids sentenced without a lawyer. These are 15 year olds who will not experience growing up outside of prison walls.

The sentencing is beyond harsh. This is closer to paranoia. This is how you ruin a person's life, demoralize them and permanently damage their souls. The central focus is not the money. The documentary reveals trails of unjust sentencing and their ramifications show a complete lack of understanding of children. At 1 hr 18 min, there is an unforgettable scene when a parent confronts the judge about her sons suicide after his sentencing.

This documentary is powerful. It reveals a problem no one is talking about. If not for a group of advocates, the unjust sentencing will continue. The system will continue to silence these children as they are sentenced to grow up in the isolation of cold concrete walls of prisons.

Great documentary about the Kids for Cash scandal. Just shows us how corrupt everyone really is in this world.