The plot is loosely based on the "Kids for Cash" scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in which two Juvenile Court Judges sent more than two thousand children to two for-profit juvenile detention centers while getting kickbacks from the Youth Centers' owners. Many of the juveniles were from poor homes and had no prior criminal history. One of the judges involved received a 28-year prison sentence and the other received a 17 1/2 year sentence.