Youths jailed improperly

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Officials who oversee juvenile courts in Luzerne County, Pa., say they didn't know that thousands of adolescents were being improperly sent to jail.

The officials told a special state panel they weren't aware youths were locked away after hearings at which they were effectively denied lawyers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.

The state-appointed Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice is charged with finding out how former judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan managed to get away with what federal prosecutors say was a five-year, $2.8 million kickback conspiracy.

They are accused of taking bribes in exchange for sending youths to for-profit detention centers and private jails.

A witness testified Tuesday probation officers, not attorneys, had juvenile defendants sign forms waiving the right to an attorney before entering Ciavarella's courtroom.

Ciavarella and Conahan are awaiting trial on federal racketeering, bribery and fraud charges.