Re: Biden pardons corrupt "Kids for cash" judge

On Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:56:06 -0500, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

On 2024-12-13 2:21 PM, EGK wrote:

but, but... TRUMP!!
 
https://news.yahoo.com/news/biden-stirs-outrage-scranton-commuting-162649874.html
 
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.
 
Biden Commutes 1,500 Jail Sentences, Grants Pardons For 39 Others: 'Largest
Single-day Grant Of Clemency'
 
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.
 
But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted Conahan's
sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day act of clemency in
modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people
and granted 39 pardons.
 
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"My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance
equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation
and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," the president said.
 
The decision has raised questions as to why Biden would choose to commute
the sentence of a judge who is detested in the area.
 
Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment but has not received
a response.
 
Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her
son was placed in juvenile detention and committed suicide, said that the
president’s actions were an "injustice" and "deeply painful."
 
"I am shocked and I am hurt," Fonzo said in a statement, per The Citizens
Voice. "Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s
death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This
pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I
am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has
brought back."
 
The scheme began in 2002 when Conahan shut down the state juvenile detention
center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to fund a
multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities.
 
Who Else Might Biden Pardon After He Spared Hunter From Sentencing?
 
Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy
that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its
sister facility, Western PA Child Care.
 
Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old to detention, many of
them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking,
truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge
often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled,
handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense
or even say goodbye to their families.
 
In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200
million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it's unlikely the
now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award.
 
During the case, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a
routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing impact of his
childhood detention — and had to show his mental health records in court to
"explain why my behavior was so erratic."
 
Several of the childhood victims who were part of the lawsuit when it began
in 2009 have since died from overdoses or suicide, prosecutors said.
 
Biden wags finger at White House Christmas party
President Biden speaks at a "Christmas Dinner for All" in the East Room of
the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
The scheme, per The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney
Robert Powell paying Ciavarella and Conahan $770,000, who in turn funneled
juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers Powell
partly owned.
 
Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony
counts of failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a conspiracy.
 
Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was
later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury
that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served one
year in federal prison, per The Citizens Voice.
 
Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail
fraud charges, per the publication.
 

>
I wonder why Biden pardoned this scumbag judge? I can't see *any* reason
for it.

He did not pardon the judge. He commuted the sentence which means the
judge is still held guilty of the crime. There's likely some reason
why the sentence was commuted that isn't mentioned above and certainly
isn't one of those mentioned below. My guess would be the sentence was
almost up.

Did the judge steer some of his ill-gotten gains to Biden at some point?
Did the judge do Biden some other favour at some point?
>
I wonder if we'll ever know....