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Several Pennsylvania officials, especially in the Scranton area where President Joe Biden hails fromare asking the city to reverse the 2021 renaming of a freeway spur in his honor.
State Rep. Jamie Walsh, R-Dallas, appeared to lead the charge with a scathing statement highlighting Biden’s recent pardon of a judge convicted of a “kids for cash” scandal in which he received kickbacks to sentence minors to for-profit prisons.
Wilkes-Barre Common Pleas Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr. were convicted in 2008. The first served time in prison, followed by COVID-induced house arrest until Biden’s pardon.
Walsh said some of the affected children had been convicted of minor offenses such as jaywalking. The Democratic-majority Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned 4,000 juvenile convictions as a result of the scandal.
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The former Central Scranton Expressway, now the President Biden Expressway, diverges from I-81, which continues to Binghamton, New York. (Charles Creutz)
“In light of the recent decision by the Biden administration to commute former Judge Conahan’s sentence, I implore city officials and the mayor (Paige Gebhardt Cognetti) to remove President Joe Biden’s name from freeway sign leading to the heart of the “electric city” “downtown area”.
In 2021, the mayor and city council unanimously approved the rebranding of the three-quarter-mile Central Scranton Expressway off Interstate 81 and its continuation on what was then Spruce Street through downtown as “President Biden Expressway” and “Biden Avenue,” respectively. .
The President Biden Expressway initially serves as a brief bypass of PA-307 into the city and continues as “Biden Ave” to northbound US-11, which in turn meets the of the colloquial “Route 9”: the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“The children affected by Conahan’s actions nearly 15 years ago are now adults suffering in their own mental prisons because of his acts of self-fulfillment,” Walsh said in a statement.
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Former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella. (AP Photo/The Citizens’ Voice, Mark Moran)
“Crimes against children are eternal and there is no escaping the irreparable harm these predators caused by their actions.”
Walsh argued that the issue is not partisan, but “right versus wrong” and that Biden no longer deserves commemoration because his pardon “exonerates (Conahan’s) behavior” as a signal to future corrupt public officials.
State re-election. Brenda Pugh, R-Luzerne, he told WBRE that Conahan’s conduct is “a blight on Pennsylvania” and that Biden’s pardon is “a travesty.”
“(H)is clemency is a miscarriage of justice,” Pugh said, adding President Biden Expressway Therefore, “it will forever be a scar that reminds people of what happened here (at NEPA).”
Meanwhile, Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak made his case directly to Cognetti, writing the mayor a letter saying that reversing “Biden Avenue to Spruce Street” would help restore confidence in city leadership and reaffirm the commitment to govern in the best reflection of the city’s values.
“This (pardon) has brought significant negative attention to Scranton, tarnishing the city’s reputation and reflecting poorly on Lackawanna County as a whole,” Chermak wrote.
In an interview Friday, Cognetti said Biden’s switch of Conahan was a “serious mistake” that just opened “deep and horrible” wounds for Scrantonians and NEPA residents.
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Biden and Scranton’s Democratic mayor, Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (Reuters)
He echoed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s comment earlier this week that Conahan’s sentence was too light in the first place.
“(The case) was just what you think a screenwriter couldn’t make up: how systemic and how deep this scandal was,” Cognetti said.
She said she had contacted the White House with her concerns and was saddened to learn that Conahan’s commutation is irreversible.
Cognetti pointed out that she is currently mayor in part also because of the public corruption of other officials.
Predecessor Bill Courtright resigned in July 2019 amid a conviction for bribery, corruption and conspiracy. Courtright’s departure led to two brief interim mayors before Cognetti was elected that November as an independent and, in 2021, as a Democrat.
Cognetti added that calls to take Biden’s name off the roads are not new and remain largely partisan-based.
“The president is from here, and there are few communities that can boast of being the hometown of a president of the United States. We will continue to celebrate and be very proud to have a son of Scranton as president.”
“The two issues are combined, I think, for political reasons. And I would like us to treat these things as they are. We have to continue to address corruption in government,” added Cognetti.
“This is separate from the president’s legacy of 50 years in office and being Scranton’s most successful son.”
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Biden Street; old Spruce Street (Getty)
Asked recently whether Biden would grant a pardon to Conahan, Shapiro said presidents have the “sole and absolute” power to do so, but they should exercise it “incredibly carefully.”
“I look at every case that comes across my desk where there’s a request for a pardon or clemency or worse, or a reduced sentence. And I take that very seriously,” said Shapiro, who previously served as attorney general.
“I feel very strongly that President Biden was absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Not only was this a black eye in the community because of the scandal, but it also affected families in very deep, deep, sad ways,” he said.
