Several Pennsylvania officials, particularly in the Scranton area, where President Joe Biden is fromare calling on the city to reverse the renaming of a highway spur in his honor in 2021.
State Rep. Jamie Walsh, R-Dallas, appeared to lead the charge with a scathing statement highlighting Biden’s recent pardon of a judge convicted in a “kids for cash” scandal in which he took bribes for the conviction from juveniles to for-profit prisons.
Wilkes-Barre Common Pleas Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr. were convicted in 2008. The former served time in prison, followed by COVID-related house arrest until Biden’s pardon.
Walsh said some of the children involved were convicted of minor crimes such as jaywalking. Pennsylvania’s Democratic-majority Supreme Court overturned 4,000 juvenile convictions as a result of the scandal.
The former Central Scranton Expressway – now the President Biden Expressway – branches off from I-81, which continues towards Binghamton, NY (Charles Creitz)
“In light of the Biden administration’s recent decision to commute former Judge Conahan’s sentence, I implore city officials and Mayor (Paige Gebhardt Cognetti) to remove President Joe Biden’s name from the highway sign that runs into the heart of the ‘Electric City.’ ‘ leads.” “Downtown”
In 2021, the mayor and city council voted unanimously to rename the three-quarter-mile-long Central Scranton Expressway, which branches off Interstate 81, and continue it along what was then Spruce Street through downtown to the “President Biden Expressway” and “Biden Avenue,” respectively. to .
The President Biden Expressway initially serves as a short bypass of PA-307 into the city and then heads north as “Biden Ave” to US-11, which in turn meets the terminus of the colloquial “Route 9” 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-actualization,” Walsh said in a statement.
Former Lucerne district 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 cause through their actions.”
Walsh argued that the issue is bipartisan but “right versus wrong” and that Biden no longer deserves the memorial because his pardon “exonerates Conahan’s conduct” and serves as a signal to future corrupt officials.
State representative. Brenda Pugh, R-Lucerne, said WBRE that Conahan’s behavior was a “damage to Pennsylvania” and that Biden’s pardon was “nothing short of a travesty.”
“(H)ercecy is a miscarriage of justice,” Pugh said, adding President Biden Expressway will therefore “forever remain a scar reminding people of what happened here (in NEPA).”
Meanwhile, Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak reached out directly to Cognetti, writing a letter to the mayor saying that turning “Biden Avenue into Spruce Street” would help restore confidence in the city’s leadership and the Reaffirming a commitment to govern in a way that best reflects the city’s values.
“This (pardon) has brought significant negative attention to Scranton, damaged the city’s reputation and reflected poorly on Lackawanna County as a whole,” Chermak wrote.
In an interview Friday, Cognetti said Biden’s commutation of Conahan was a “grave mistake” that opened “deep and terrible” wounds for the residents of Scranton and NEPA.
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Biden and Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (Reuters)
She echoed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s comment earlier this week that Conahan’s sentence was too lenient to begin with.
“(The case) was exactly what you think a screenwriter couldn’t make up – how systemic and how deep this scandal was,” Cognetti said.
She said she contacted the White House with her concerns and was saddened to learn that Conahan’s commutation was irreversible.
Cognetti pointed out that she is currently mayor, in part because of public corruption by other officials.
Predecessor Bill Courtright resigned in July 2019 following a conviction for bribery, corruption and conspiracy. Courtright’s departure led to two brief interim mayoral stints before Cognetti was elected as an independent in November and as a Democrat in 2021.
Cognetti added that calls to remove Biden’s name from the streets are not new and continue to be based largely on partisanship.
“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 native son of Scranton as our president.”
“The two issues are, in my opinion, mixed up for political reasons. And I want us to treat these things as they are. We must continue to address corruption in government,” Cognetti added.
“That’s different than the president’s legacy of being in office for 50 years and being the most successful son in Scranton.”
BIDEN’S HOMETOWN expresses how it really feels about “Bidenomics.”
Biden Street; formerly Spruce Street (Getty)
When asked recently whether Biden would grant Conahan a pardon, Shapiro said that presidents have the “unique and absolute” power to do so but should exercise it “incredibly cautiously.”
“I study every single case that comes to my table that involves a pardon, clemency or worse, or a reduction in sentence. And I take that very seriously,” said Shapiro, who previously served as attorney general.
“I firmly believe that President Biden made an absolute mistake and caused a lot of suffering here in Northeast Pennsylvania. The scandal has not only left a black eye on the community, but has also affected the families deeply, profoundly and sadly,” he said.
