Cleland May Chair Commission

Superior Court Judge John Cleland will most likely be the chairman of a special commission established to study the juvenile-justice corruption scandal at the Luzerene County Courthouse.

Governor Ed Rendell signed legislation that created the 11-member Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice. It has until May to try to determine how the Luzerne County problems arose and recommend ways to prevent them from recurring.

Two former county judges pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud and tax evasion in what prosecutors said was a scheme to improperly force juvenile defendants into privately run detention centers in exchange for kickbacks of $2.6 million.

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