King’s College will host a panel discussion on the “Kids for Cash” scandal and aftermath during a free public forum at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22, in the Burke Auditorium, William G. McGowan School of Business, on North River Street. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the same time on Jan. 23.
For the event, titled “Ethics in the Valley: After the Judicial Scandals,” the panel will include Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Ecenbarger, who wrote "Kids for Cash: Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.8 Million Kickback Scheme"; Margaret Hogan, chair of the Accountability, Conduct, and Ethics Commission of Luzerne County; and former Luzerne County judge Joseph Cosgrove.
The “Kids for cash” scandal unfolded in 2008. President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan were later convicted in connection with receiving $2.6 million in payments for contracting with juvenile facilities and imposing harsh sentences on juveniles to increase the number of inmates in the for-profit detention centers.
Each participant will speak for approximately 20 minutes, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Parking will be available in on-campus lots.
A former “Philadelphia Inquirer” investigative journalist, Ecenbarger was part of a team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979.
Hogan is McNerney-Hanson Professor Emeritus of Ethics at the University of Portland, the founding director of the University of Portland's Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, and a Fellow of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.
Cosgrove served as a Luzerne County judge in place of Mark Ciavarella from 2010-2012. He has been in private law practice since 1982 and previously served as a Superior Court law clerk and Luzerne County assistant public defender and conflict counsel. He also teaches constitutional law and civil rights at King's.
The lecture is sponsored by the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at King’s. For more information, contact Dr. Bernard Prusak, director of the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, at 208-5900, ext. 5689 or e-mail BernardPrusak@kings.edu.
King's College is a Catholic College sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross.
William Ecenbarger
For Immediate Release
Further Information: Contact Joseph Giomboni
Public Relations Office, (570) 208-5958