The state Supreme Court on Thursday authorized compensation payments for more than 100 victims of juvenile offenders whose convictions were overturned in the aftermath of the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal.
The payments range from $25 to $1,500 - the maximum under state juvenile court rules - depending on the victim's loss, expenses and damage, Berks County Senior Judge Arthur E. Grim said in a report to the high court.
Grim, whose review of the scandal-plagued juvenile court led to the reversal of thousands of juveniles' convictions under the reign of ex-Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., recommended payments for 114 victims, totaling $65,310.
The state Supreme Court assigned Grim to review the cases in February 2009, after federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another former judge with pocketing kickbacks to funnel juvenile defendants to a for-profit juvenile detention center.
Ciavarella, 61, faces 13 or more years in prison on a racketeering conviction connected to a $1 million payment from the builder of the detention center. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11.
The payments to victims of the juvenile offenders will be disbursed from a $500,000 victim compensation fund established last year by the state legislature, ensuring restitution for victims who would have otherwise been shut out from compensation, Grim said.
Each of the payments will be equal to the amount a victim would have been entitled to had the convictions, and accompanying restitution orders, stood, Grim said.
State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, who backed the creation of the victim compensation fund, commended the state Supreme Court's payment authorization Thursday.
"This is yet another step in the long process of moving the state and Luzerne County forward as we recover from one of the darkest times in Pennsylvania judicial history," Yudichak said. "These payments will help those people who did not receive full restitution for their losses and hopefully provide them with some measure of justice."
One of the victims, Gary Moran, will receive a payment of $250 to cover the remaining costs from a windshield smashed by a juvenile five years ago.
Ciavarella sentenced the juvenile to probation and ordered him to pay half of the $1,000 repair cost.
The juvenile paid $250 to Moran but was cleared from paying the balance of the restitution when the state Supreme Court overturned the convictions.
"Thank God," Moran said. "They kind of left me hanging."
"I don't think any consideration was taken at first for the victims. They should have looked at all of the cases. They took the easy way out," Moran added.
Speaking about Ciavarella, Moran said, "This guy not only affected the juveniles, there are a lot of victims who are impacted by him, too. And I am one of them."