Surely there's no adult in the English-speaking world who has not heard some version of this famous quote: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

But who would ever think that in a system involving dozens, even hundreds, of people, it would come down to just one good man? I mean, aren't we all, you know, basically good?

The story of the two corrupt judges from Luzerne County is widely known now. They face criminal charges for sending children to a detention center in which they had financial interests. They sentenced hundreds, maybe thousands of kids for minor offenses, without allowing them legal counsel, and shipped them far from home, to a private facility that gave them kickbacks.

One of them, former judge Michael Conahan, shut down a less-costly county-run detention center to further his scheme and ordered expensive psychological evaluations done by his brother-in-law.

The other judge, Mark Ciavarella Jr., granted kids in his courtroom a minute or two each, without defense attorneys, handing down sentences often contrary to probation officers' recommendations. A 17-year-old he shipped off for stealing a $4 bottle of nutmeg ended up serving seven months in three different detention centers, two of them on this side of the state.

You may have thought this appalling story was satisfactorily wrapped up when the two judges pleaded guilty in February, but you were too optimistic. In August, a federal judge rejected their pleas, ruling they had broken the terms by failing to take responsibility for their actions.

Proving they have no shame, the disgraced former judges asked the state to reinstate their monthly pension checks while they await trial.

These two men apparently have no conscience either. The civil suits already filed by families of the juveniles they treated unconstitutionally and harshly will doubtless cost Pennsylvania taxpayers millions of dollars.

But something besides these judges' despicable actions has troubled the commission investigating this case, and it should. As the commission's head, Superior Court Judge John M. Cleland, said, "Our concern is also the inaction of others -- inaction by judges, prosecutors, public defenders, the defense bar, public officials and private citizens -- those who knew but failed to speak, those who saw but failed to act."

In other words -- though his are eloquent and thorough -- this evil triumphed for years because many, many "good" people did nothing. Why not?

Were they all in on the take? Surely not, though a couple other officials tied to the scheme have pleaded guilty to various offenses.

Were they just too tired and overworked to care any more? Did they have a hopeless case of "You can't fight the system"?

Were they all so burned out that they could feel no empathy for the mostly underprivileged teens who shuffled through their doors? Are none of them parents?

One man finally did speak up. Chester B. Muroski, now president judge of the Luzerne County Common Pleas Court, testified at the investigating commission's public hearing last week that back in 2006, when he was presiding in Orphan's Court, he began to suspect "something was going on" in the juvenile division and went to the FBI.

As the FBI's three-year investigation unfolded, Judge Muroski found himself astonished that the "method of ripping off the county and depriving kids of their rights was so contrived and had so many labyrinths." The fact that it did -- that the scamming and injustice were so multifaceted and comprehensive -- indicates, at worst, many accessories to these crimes, and at the very least, widespread indifference to the basic principles of justice.

It would almost be better if all of them did it for money. We can comprehend people desperate for cash selling out their principles for 30 pieces of silver.

But selling them out for nothing? Standing by, with nothing to gain or lose but self-respect, while children are screwed over by venal judges?

It means that dozens of public servants -- bailiffs, lawyers, clerks, probation officers, school officials, normal Joes and Janes -- just didn't give a damn about the evil being done right before their eyes. And that makes them guilty of it, too.

We like to think of ourselves as good and decent people. Maybe we ought to spend some time wondering whether, and when, we might be passively but nonetheless intentionally wrong.

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