The suit names Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan and 14 other defendants. It was filed in federal court late Thursday on behalf of hundreds of children and their families who were alleged victims of the corruption.

"At the hands of two grossly corrupt judges and several conspirators, hundreds of Pennsylvania children, their families and loved ones, were victimized and their civil rights violated," plaintiffs' attorney Michael Cefalo said in a statement Friday.

Prosecutors allege Ciavarella and Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, possibly tainting the convictions of thousands of juvenile offenders.

The judges pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court in Scranton on Thursday. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in prison.

"It's our intent to make sure that the system rights this terrible injustice and holds those responsible accountable," Cefalo said.

An attorney for Conahan said he hadn't seen the suit and declined comment. Ciavarella's lawyer didn't immediately return a phone message.

The lead plaintiff is Florence Wallace, whose 14-year-old daughter Bernadine was charged with terroristic threats after getting into an argument on MySpace. The lawsuit said the teenager was not advised of her right to an attorney and was pressured to plead guilty. She was taken from Ciavarella's courtroom in shackles and spent time in PA Child Care and at a youth wilderness camp.

The six-person Broward County jury must decide whether Stuart Hess was addicted to cigarette nicotine before he got lung cancer and died. If so, the jury would later decide any damages against the Philip Morris tobacco company.

The lawsuit by widow Elaine Hess is the first to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out a $145 billion class-action jury award, ruling that each case had to be proven individually.

Hess' lawyers said Thursday he was hopelessly addicted to nicotine. The lawyer for Philip Morris said Hess chose not to quit despite known health risks.

Party spokesman Todd Riffle said papers were filed late Wednesday asking the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

GOP leader Tom Wilson hopes to get the court to order the Democratic governor to release the e-mails he and his staff exchanged with Carla Katz.

Corzine dated Katz, the leader of the state's largest state worker union, before he became governor. Wilson argues that the public has the right to see the e-mails Corzine and his staff exchanged with Katz during the 2007 labor talks to ensure no backdoor negotiations took place.

"The public has the right to judge for themselves whether Corzine's conduct was appropriate," Wilson said in a statement Thursday. "To do so, they need to see the e-mails and look at Corzine's actions on this contract."

Corzine and Katz were involved in the negotiations, though neither were principal negotiators.

Corzine has said the two did not discuss the contract. Katz, in court papers, however, argued that the e-mails should remain private because they involve contract talks, which are exempt from Open Public Records Act requests.

An appellate court ruled unanimously last month that Corzine's e-mails could stay private. That decision overturned a trial court ruling ordering the e-mails released.

The Appeals Court said the governor's electronic correspondence was protected by executive privilege, a legal principle that allows members of the executive branch of government to keep certain communications confidential in order to govern effectively.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Decatur Hotels of exploiting foreign workers it hired after the August 2005 storm scattered many of its employees.

The suit claims Decatur Hotels violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it refused to reimburse foreign workers for recruitment, transportation and visa expenses. Decatur's foreign workers spent up to $5,000 apiece to relocate to New Orleans.

A three-judge panel concluded the law doesn't require an employer to cover any of those expenses.

The ruling Thursday tracks the conclusion of the initial investigation that Billey Joe Johnson had shot himself with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The 17-year-old's death has inflamed suspicion since Dec. 8. That's when the standout running back at George County High School was killed after a deputy stopped him for running a red light.

Johnson's family and the NAACP had rejected suicide as the cause of the death. They have said he had too much to live for including a shot at playing in the NFL.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LUCEDALE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi grand jury is expected to release its report on the shooting death of a star high school football player during a traffic stop.

An initial investigation concluded that Billey Joe Johnson had shot and killed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The 17-year-old's death has inflamed suspicion since Dec. 8. That's when the standout running back at George County High School was killed after a deputy stopped him for running a red light.

Assistant District Attorney Brice Wiggins says the grand jury's report is expected at a hearing Thursday afternoon in George County Circuit Court in Lucedale.

Johnson's family and the NAACP have rejected suicide as the cause of the death. They say he had too much to live for including a shot at playing in the NFL.

In a hearing before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Deputy Attorney General Daniel Powell argued that a judge's demand for a $250 million down payment violates state sovereignty and federal law. A court-appointed receiver wants that money to go toward his $8 billion plan to build seven new medical and mental health facilities for the state's 33 adult prisons.

Powell told the three-judge panel that the plan goes far beyond what's needed to remedy the prison health care system. The state cited proposed amenities such as therapy rooms, basketball courts and bingo boards. Powell added that the state already has taken steps to improve care that has been ruled unconstitutional.

The demand for billions to improve inmate medical care comes during a time of "extreme fiscal crisis," the state argued. California is struggling to bridge a $42 billion budget gap, furloughing employees two days each month, cutting billions from education and social services and considering a variety of tax increases.

Richard "Dickie" Scruggs admitted he was involved in a scheme to entice a judge to rule in his favor in an asbestos case by promising he'd be appointed to the federal bench with help from Scruggs' brother-in-law, former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott.

Scruggs, who already is serving five years in jail, was sentenced Tuesday to a seven-year term that will run at the same time, basically adding two years to his sentence. He was also fined $100,000.

Scruggs' name was also removed from a sealed indictment that has not been made public. U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee declined to give details about it.

Scruggs, who was in leg-irons and wore a dark suit during the hearing, told the court that the first time he pleaded guilty he had vowed to come out of the ordeal a better man, a pledge he renewed Tuesday.

"I acknowledge and own up fully to my role and responsibility," Scruggs told the court. "I'm going to do everything I can to make it as right as I can. I'm going to cooperate fully with federal authorities."

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson told Scruggs he had recently read a saying he thought was fitting: "The Romans had a proverb that money was like sea water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become."

Scruggs, who was led out of the courthouse in an orange jumpsuit and shackles, did not acknowledge reporters as he was loaded into a white van with dark-tinted windows.

Lott, who talked to Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter but ultimately recommended someone else, has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Scruggs, 62, gained national prominence and earned hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1990s with a case that led to a multibillion-dollar settlement from tobacco companies. His efforts were portrayed in the 1999 film "The Insider" starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.

But his star fell last year when he admitted conspiring to bribe another Mississippi judge in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from Hurricane Katrina insurance cases. He was disbarred and is serving a five-year sentence in a federal prison in Kentucky.

The judge recommended he be moved to a prison closer to his Oxford home to be near family and the federal authorities investigating the bribery case. Scruggs asked to be sent to the same Arkansas prison where his son is jailed for knowing about the Katrina bribery scheme and not reporting it.