Leroy N. Soetoro
2024-12-14 23:11:54 UTC
https://whyy.org/articles/biden-commutation-kids-for-cash-angers-
pennsylvania-families/
A judge who helped orchestrate one of the worst judicial scandals in
U.S.history a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange
for kickbacks was among the 1,500 people whose sentences were commuted
by President Joe Biden this week.
Bidens decision to commute the 17-year prison sentence of Michael Conahan
angered many in northeastern Pennsylvania, from the governor to the
families whose children were victimized by the disgraced former judge.
Conahan had already served the vast majority of his sentence, which was
handed down in 2011.
I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and
created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh
Shapiro, a Democrat, said during an unrelated news conference in Scranton
on Friday.
The scandal affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways,
he added. Conahan deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man.
A message seeking comment was sent to an attorney who recently represented
Conahan, the former president judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common
Pleas.
In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, Conahan and Judge
Mark Ciavarella shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and
accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from a friend of Conahans who
built and co-owned two for-profit lockups.
Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance
policy that guaranteed large numbers of children would fill the beds of
the private lockups. The scandal prompted the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
to throw out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300
children.
Sandy Fonzo, whose son killed himself at age 23 after Ciavarella locked
him up as a teen, called Conahans commutation an injustice.
I am shocked and I am hurt, Fonzo said in a statement provided to The
Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre. Conahans actions destroyed families,
including mine, and my sons 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 Juvenile Law Center, which represented plaintiffs in a $200 million
civil judgment against Conahan and Ciavarella, said in a statement that it
supported President Bidens actions but wants to see the same kind of
compassion and mercy extended to juvenile defendants around the country.
Conahan was a powerful figure in northeastern Pennsylvania before his
arrest, regularly meeting for breakfast with the reputed boss of an area
Mafia family.
When he pleaded guilty in 2010, Conahan apologized to the youths he had
hurt.
The system is not corrupt, Conahan said at the time. I was corrupt.
In 2020, Conahan was released to home confinement with six years left on
his sentence as part of an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in
federal prisons.
Ciavarella, who went to trial and was convicted of some of the charges, is
serving a 28-year sentence.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
pennsylvania-families/
A judge who helped orchestrate one of the worst judicial scandals in
U.S.history a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange
for kickbacks was among the 1,500 people whose sentences were commuted
by President Joe Biden this week.
Bidens decision to commute the 17-year prison sentence of Michael Conahan
angered many in northeastern Pennsylvania, from the governor to the
families whose children were victimized by the disgraced former judge.
Conahan had already served the vast majority of his sentence, which was
handed down in 2011.
I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and
created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh
Shapiro, a Democrat, said during an unrelated news conference in Scranton
on Friday.
The scandal affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways,
he added. Conahan deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man.
A message seeking comment was sent to an attorney who recently represented
Conahan, the former president judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common
Pleas.
In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, Conahan and Judge
Mark Ciavarella shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and
accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from a friend of Conahans who
built and co-owned two for-profit lockups.
Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance
policy that guaranteed large numbers of children would fill the beds of
the private lockups. The scandal prompted the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
to throw out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300
children.
Sandy Fonzo, whose son killed himself at age 23 after Ciavarella locked
him up as a teen, called Conahans commutation an injustice.
I am shocked and I am hurt, Fonzo said in a statement provided to The
Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre. Conahans actions destroyed families,
including mine, and my sons 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 Juvenile Law Center, which represented plaintiffs in a $200 million
civil judgment against Conahan and Ciavarella, said in a statement that it
supported President Bidens actions but wants to see the same kind of
compassion and mercy extended to juvenile defendants around the country.
Conahan was a powerful figure in northeastern Pennsylvania before his
arrest, regularly meeting for breakfast with the reputed boss of an area
Mafia family.
When he pleaded guilty in 2010, Conahan apologized to the youths he had
hurt.
The system is not corrupt, Conahan said at the time. I was corrupt.
In 2020, Conahan was released to home confinement with six years left on
his sentence as part of an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in
federal prisons.
Ciavarella, who went to trial and was convicted of some of the charges, is
serving a 28-year sentence.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.