Ciavarella and Conahan are charged with taking kick-backs from a private juvenile jail facility. Both judges found 5000 youths guilty of minor crimes, and enslaved them in the junvenile facility as punishment. Even after the $2.6 million in kickbacks were discovered, there are still teenagers in these facilities. The State average for juvenile detention (enslavement in a jail) is about 10%. Under these judges, 25% of teens brought up for minor offenses were jailed, in exchange for the kickbacks.

I won’t go into my disagreement with the idea of state-funded penatentiaries. State-corporate ventures are always a negative situation in my opinion. I do want to move forward with my full support of the death penalty for these two justices (ex-justices?) based solely on their violation of their oath to support the Constitutions of their states.

The Pennsylvania oath of office states:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.”

Since they did not discharge the duties of their offices with fidelity, and since they did not uphold the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, they should be charged with high treason. As the common judgment for high treason is the death penalty, I see no other alternative for punishment but hanging, lethal injection, or preferably a firing squad. This will teach our public servants that they must take their oath seriously.

I’m always in favor of using the laws against the law-makers and law-enforcers. In this case, we MUST, as citizens of sovereign States and Commonwealths, push for full judgment against those who judge us unfairly or criminally.

If you are a citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I urge you to contact your public servants and push forward for a trial of treason, with the full punishment as set forth by Pennsylvanian law.

Today we add the 6th incident in a week with charges filed against Al Sanchez, the City of Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner.  Sanchez, alledges Federal prosectors today in court, forced possible hirees to do manual labor for him before he’d decide on their future jobs.  The Feds have been conducting quite a long operation looking into possible patronage and payoffs in Chicago’s City Hall.

The court indictment alledges that Sanchez forced others into labor, with some seen mowing the lawn, shoveling snow and washing windows at the Sanchez’s home.  Sanchez was a leader of the Hispanic Democratic Organization.  The HDO played a strong part the political success of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has been not been accused of any wrongdoing in the investigation.  According to the prosecutors’ filing, the HDO was instrumental in the 2003 re-election of 10th Ward Alderman John Pope, who was an ex-Daley aide.  Al Sanchez led the HDO’s Southeast chapter and allegedly plotted to discourage Hispanics from running against Pope.  The group gathered about 2,500 voters’ signatures to get one of their members on the ballot.  Six weeks later, their member dropped out of the race when all other serious challengers had been scared off, according to Federal prosecutor.

The court papers included many statements against various HDO Southeast members.  ”Individual HDO Southeast participants who sought job-related benefits included individuals who provided Sanchez with various personal services and things of value.”  One man was told to go to Sanchez’ house to perform some work where he ”observed multiple HDO participants at Sanchez’s house performing yard work and washing the windows of Sanchez’s house.”  Another was asked ”to perform services at Sanchez’s house, including cutting grass, removing snow and cleaning the yard” according to the papers filed.  

The Shakman Decree, a 1969 court order, makes political patronage illegal in most cases.  Sanchez is being defended by attorney Thomas Breen, who has commented in the past that Sanchez has done nothing wrong.  Sanchez plead not guilty in Federal court today. 

 In 2007, four other Daley political cronies have been sent to prison for rigging city hiring, including Robert Sorich, Daley’s ex-patronage chief.  Sorich is now  serving a prison sentence, and Federal prosecutors are assumed to involve some witnesses from his prosecution against Sanchez.  Sanchez has been charged with 9 counts of mail fraud.  His trial starts in March, 2009.

Photos licensed under the Creative Commons license from the flickr site of benderbending.

Of his non-violent “crimes,” Lombardo was charged and found guilty of running a variety of rackets which are only called rackets due to the government not liking competition.  One such racket is street gambling, a wonderfully high-expectation operation compared to our government’s licensed casinos.  In street gambling, players see a much higher return on their money, versus the typical casino payout of about 80% (or less) per dollar wagered.

Lombardo was said to have run ”the oldest and most reliable floating craps game on Grand Avenue,” according to his lawyer Rick Halprin during the trial.  And what’s wrong with that, I ask.  People didn’t wager with Lombardo’s crew out of force or intimidation, they did it because they knew the odds were better than going to a registered casino.  On top of better odds, they also didn’t have to worry about the legal theft that happens to all us players from the IRS rules governing the casinos.

Another supposed “crime” that Lombardo was convicted of is what the Feds called high-juice loans.  On the street, people with a need for fast cash can usually look to their local Outfit crew for a fast cash loan.  These loans, which carry a very high interest rate, are doled out based on how well the Outfit is familiar with you: your home, your job, your family.  Instead of putting up your credit score backing the loan, you put up your dependability to repay it.  The vig (vigorish) or interest rate, is generally fairly high, sometimes in the realm of 100% a year or more, but for those with bad credit scores or no assets, they can be lifesavers.

Of course, the government doesn’t get its share of taxes and profits from these loans, so they criminalize it instead.  In many cases, when local Outfits have been run out of the market by the law, poor people who need quick cash resort to the legalized form of loansharking called the Payday Loan, which is often times MUCH worse than the Outfit loans.  Again, this is to be expected, as those who are blessed by the State are given much more ability to cause rampant harm on others.  It’s part and parcel for the Outfit, who has been known to forgive loans and even extend them without a vig, based on the person’s actual reason for needing the cash.

Lombardo’s other charge was the collection of what the Feds call “Street Taxes.”  Street taxes are a form of private security for business owners in an area controlled by the local Outfit.  They’re usually forced under the threat of violence — no difference than the IRS who will put you in jail for not paying.  The difference is that the people who pay these “Street Taxes” actually see a return on their payment: reduced crime from gangbangers, reduced hassling by the local corrupt police officers, and a place to turn to when there are neighborhood beefs.  In exchange for the money, most businessmen see a markable improvement in relations with others in the area, and rely on the Outfit to handle squabbles.  Lombardo’s crew ran a tight ship, making sure that local entrepreneurs were protected from street thugs and corrupt cops.

The final charge is the one I take the largest exception with: the murder charge of Federal Information Daniel Seifert in 1974.  In the case, the Feds were not able to tie Lombardo to Seifert except through two old checks.  There was no DNA evidence, no witnesses, and no schedule to tie Lombardo to Seifert’s death.  The testimony of attorney Matt Lydon, who prosecuted a Teamster pension fund fraud case in the 1970s, was used by the prosecution to add more circumstancial evidence that Lombardo was the murderer.  In the end, it was all circumstancial evidence, and no real facts.  Nonetheless, the government hates competition, so Lombardo was also convincted of murder.

In the Family Secrets case so far, two others have been convicted and sentenced.  Arizona Outfit member Paul “the Indian” Schiro received 20 years for the racketeering conviction, and Frank Calabrese Sr. (71 years old) got life for racketeering and for seven murders.  The Feds were able to turn Calabrese’s own brother against him in exchange for government protection and lesser or no charges, a common ploy by government agents to find an indictment against a possibly higher-ranked Outfit member.  In addiction, top Mob Outfit boss James ”Little Jimmy” Marcello (67 years old), will be sentenced this Thursday.

Joey “the Clown” Lombard will likely be sentenced to Life in prison.  He is almost 80 years old.  Earlier in the trial in 2007, Lombardo’s friend Joseph “Shorty”  LaMantian said ”I personally don’t think the jury was intelligent enough to decipher all the evidence the government put on.  It’s another slap in the face to Italians who are ‘alleged’ gangsters, and I emphasize ‘alleged.’ ”

Previously, Joey Lombardo was charged, conviced and sent to federal prison in the 1980s for bribing a Senator to work against a trucking deregulation bill.  He was charged along with International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Roy Lee Williams and union pension fund manager Allen Dorfman for bribing Sen. Howard Cannon (D-Nev.).  In politics, we call this lobbying, which is acceptable if you’re registered with the State and allowed to follow their inane procedures.  When a common man tries to lobby a politician in the same manner, it’s a crime.  As it always is, Senator Cannon was never charged with any wrongdoing.