REPORT: Biden stirs bipartisan outrage in Scranton by commuting ‘kids for cash’ judge’s sentence

7

For ads-free news, click here.

From Fox News: President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention facilities.

In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families.

The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state’s supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.

Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19 health concerns with six years left in his sentence.

Now Conahan is a free man, after being included in a record-breaking pardon Biden issued on Thursday when he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has unleashed on Biden over the pardon, and released the following statement, shared by Fox56.com:

“Governors and presidents have a unique power to grant pardons and clemency and commute sentences. It is an absolute power and it is a power that should be used incredibly carefully. I study every single case that comes across my desk where there’s a request for a pardon or clemency or reduction of sentence. and I take it very seriously. I weigh the merits of the case. I weigh what occurred in the court proceedings. I think about public safety and victims and all of those issues factoring into my decision. I recognize that those on the outside can question those decisions, as you are here today posing a question to me on a clemency granted by President Biden, so I’ll offer these thoughts as an outsider not privy to all the information (Biden) looked at.

“But I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This was not only a black eye on the community, the Kids for Cash scandal, but it also affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways. Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart. There’s all kinds of mental health issues and anguish that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make a buck off a kid’s back.

“Frankly, I thought the sentence that the judge got was too light. And the fact that he’s been allowed out over the last year because of COVID was on house arrest and now has been granted clemency—I think is absolutely wrong. He should have been in prison for at least the 17 years that he was sentenced to by a jury of his peers. He deserved to be behind bars, not walking as a free man.”

The backlash against Biden over the pardon is immense.

Former president candidate Nikki Haley wrote, “Biden preached following the rule of law throughout his Presidency. Yet, he shields his son from accountability by giving him a pardon. And, now, sets free a judge who sent innocent kids to prison in a kids for cash scandal. This is why Americans don’t trust the system. “Do as I say, not as I do.””

Alissa Baker, who served on Haley’s team, added, “Scranton Joe can’t be serious. The graft & corruption carried out by former Luzerne Co Judge Michael Conahan stained the reputation of jurisprudence in PA & destroyed lives. He’s on home confinement which is better than what his victims experienced in private detention centers.”

Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
Dennis Michael Lynch personal: www.X.com/TrustDML
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp

The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS SECTION