Several Pennsylvania officials, especially in the Scranton area, where President Joe Biden is fromare calling on the city to reverse the 2021 renaming of a highway 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 in a kids-for-cash scandal in which he received kickbacks for sentencing young people to for-profit prisons.
Wilkes-Barre Common Pleas Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr. were convicted in 2008. The former was in jail, followed by COVID-induced house arrest until Biden was pardoned.
Walsh said some of the affected children had been convicted of minor crimes such as jaywalking. The Democratic-majority Pennsylvania Supreme Court has dismissed 4,000 juvenile convictions as a result of the scandal.
The former Central Scranton Expressway – now the President Biden Expressway – diverges 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 points to the heart of the ‘Electric City’. ‘downtown’.
In 2021, the mayor and city council unanimously approved the rebranding of the three-quarter-mile Central Scranton Expressway spur along Interstate 81 and its continuation via then-Spruce Street through downtown as the “President Biden Expressway” and “Biden” respectively Avenue’. .
The President Biden Expressway initially serves as a short bypass from PA-307 into the city, and continues as ‘Biden Ave’ towards northbound US-11, which in turn meets the terminus of the informal ‘Route 9’ – the Northeast extension of 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-advancement,” Walsh said in a statement.
Ex-Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella. (AP Photo/The Voice of the Citizen, Mark Moran)
“Crimes against children are perennial and there is no escaping the irreparable damage these predators cause through their actions.”
Walsh argued that the issue is nonpartisan but “right versus wrong” and that Biden no longer deserves the memorial because his pardon “releases (Conahan’s) conduct” as a signal to future corrupt government officials.
State representative. Brenda Pugh, R-Luzerne, told WBRE that Conahan’s behavior is a “blight on Pennsylvania” and that Biden’s pardon is “nothing short of a travesty.”
“(H)is clemency is a miscarriage of justice,” Pugh said, adding President Biden Expressway will therefore “forever be a scar that reminds people of what happened here (in NEPA).”
Meanwhile, Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak has taken 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 increase commitment to reconfirm the board in the best reflection of the city 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 on Friday, Cognetti said Biden’s buyout of Conahan was a “serious mistake” that only opened “deep and horrific” wounds for Scrantonians and NEPA residents.
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Biden and Scranton Democratic Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (Reuters)
She echoed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s comment earlier this week that Conahan’s sentence was too light in the first place.
“(The case) was exactly what you don’t think a screenwriter could come up with — how systemic and how deep that scandal went,” Cognetti said.
She said she contacted the White House with her concerns and was saddened to learn that Conahan’s buyout is irreversible.
Cognetti noted that she is currently mayor in part because of the public corruption of other officials.
Pastor Bill Courtright resigned in July 2019 following a conviction for bribery, corruption and conspiracy. Courtright’s departure led to two brief interim mayors before Cognetti was elected as an independent in November and, in 2021, as a Democrat.
Cognetti added that calls to remove Biden’s name from the roads are not new and are still largely based on partisanship.
“The President is from here, and there are few communities that can boast of being the birthplace of a President of the United States. We will continue to celebrate and take great pride in having a hometown son of having Scranton as president.”
“The two issues are being conflated, I think, for political reasons. And I would like us to deal with these matters as they are. We must continue to tackle corruption within government,” Cognetti added.
“That’s separate from the president’s legacy of 50 years as president and the fact that he was Scranton’s most successful son.”
BIDEN’S CITY EXPRESSES HOW IT REALLY FEELS ABOUT ‘BIDENOMICS’
Biden Street; formerly Sparrenstraat (Getty)
When recently asked about Biden pardoning Conahan, Shapiro said presidents have the “unique and absolute” power to do so, but must wield it “incredibly carefully.”
“I review every case that comes across my desk that involves a request for clemency, clemency or worse, or a reduced sentence. And I take it very seriously,” said Shapiro, who previously served as attorney general.
“I strongly believe that President Biden was absolutely wrong and caused a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania. Not only was this a black eye for the community because of the scandal, but it also affected families in very deep and sad circumstances. ways,” he said.
