Controversial Biden pardons shed new light on power as PA lawmakers take next step to clear Joe’s name

Lawmakers at the state and federal levels are responding to President Joe Biden’s presidential record sorry – as more than 3,000 people found their sentences commuted or pardoned. The pardons, some of which came in the final hours of Biden’s presidency, were issued to many members of his own family.

Sunday’s last minute segment that included James Biden, Hunter Biden and Valerie Biden-Owens came just weeks after a record 1,500 commutations in a single day, including that of disgraced Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan.

Conahan, of Wilkes-Barre, was dubbed the “kids for cash judge” after being indicted in connection with a scheme to send juvenile offenders to for-profit prisons in exchange for kickbacks.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Dallas, represents the area where Conahan once sat on the bench.

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Baker told Fox News Digital that the former president’s pardon in this case was “disrespectful to the victims, their families, the juvenile justice system and all the officials who have worked to reform the system because this type of scandal will not happen again.”

She and other lawmakers are also trying to draw new attention to victim notification processes that exist at the federal level and in many states, including Pennsylvania.

A source familiar with the federal process said the system is a voluntary construct, as victims can sign up for notifications but are not automatically told if convicts are pardoned, transferred or released.

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said he was concerned about much of Biden’s donation, including those given to the family and the president as a precaution. donald trump critics, as well as convicts like Conahan – whose “kids for money” scandal hit his constituents hard – and added that the former president could have damaged the pardon process.

“These preemptive actions amount to an implicit admission of wrongdoing,” Meuser said of the pardons granted to Members of the Biden family.

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“This sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the long-standing purpose of the presidential pardon power. Historically, pardons have been used to offer clemency or correct injustices, not to shield family members from potential liability before it occurs no charge”.

Unfortunately for Biden’s critics, Meuser said the presidential pardon power is enshrined in Article II of the Constitution and that Congress has no power to step in or change it.

“While I disagree with Biden’s decision to preemptively pardon his family members, the presidential pardon power is set forth (there). That means, absent the ratification of a constitutional amendment, Congress does not have the power to revise, amend, or approve legislation that limits the president’s pardon power.”

Meuser pointed to the 1974 Supreme Court case Schick v. Reed, who confirmed that Congress cannot play a role.

“However, our founding fathers could never have conceived that a president would pardon a son who broke countless laws and used the White House to defraud and take advantage of millions of dollars in a pay-to-play scheme that also involved other members of the family”.

Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., who flipped Biden’s home district in November, has also expressed concern about Biden’s use of presidential pardons.

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“I think what’s disheartening is that you heard over and over again throughout the campaign that he wasn’t going to do something like that, but I’m certainly not surprised,” Bresnahan recently told WBRE.

“I’m sure much of America is not surprised.”

While many Americans who were victims of the pardons, including Conahan, may have little recourse, Baker said he is participating in the drafting of legislation in Harrisburg on Friday afternoon that will try to remove Biden’s likeness from a part of their area of ​​origin.

Although the old Spruce Street in Scranton, since renamed Biden Avenue, is city-owned, Baker said the “President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Freeway.” that separates from Interstate 81 in his hometown is within PennDOT’s boundaries.

“The backlash has been so strong that many have called to rename the President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Expressway, which was designated by the City of Scranton in 2021,” Baker said.

The lawmaker added that Biden’s legacy is forever “tarnished” by Conahan’s “inexplicable and infamous switch.”

“We owe it to the youth victims, their families and all believers in equal justice to remove Joe Biden’s name and replace it with someone truly deserving of the honor.”