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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
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Subject: Re: Biden pardons corrupt "Kids for cash" judge
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:56:06 -0500
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On 2024-12-13 2:21 PM, EGK wrote:
> but, but... TRUMP!!
> 
> https://news.yahoo.com/news/biden-stirs-outrage-scranton-commuting-162649874.html
> 
> President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the
> sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he
> was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention
> facilities.
> 
> In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael
> Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8
> million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit
> lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit
> scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and
> families.
> 
> The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption
> scheme with the state's supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile
> convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.
> 
> Biden Commutes 1,500 Jail Sentences, Grants Pardons For 39 Others: 'Largest
> Single-day Grant Of Clemency'
> 
> Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy
> but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19
> health concerns with six years left in his sentence.
> 
> But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted Conahan's
> sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day act of clemency in
> modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people
> and granted 39 pardons.
> 
> Read On The Fox News App
> 
> "My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance
> equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation
> and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," the president said.
> 
> The decision has raised questions as to why Biden would choose to commute
> the sentence of a judge who is detested in the area.
> 
> Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment but has not received
> a response.
> 
> Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her
> son was placed in juvenile detention and committed suicide, said that the
> president’s actions were an "injustice" and "deeply painful."
> 
> "I am shocked and I am hurt," Fonzo said in a statement, per The Citizens
> Voice. "Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s
> 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 scheme began in 2002 when Conahan shut down the state juvenile detention
> center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to fund a
> multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities.
> 
> Who Else Might Biden Pardon After He Spared Hunter From Sentencing?
> 
> Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy
> that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its
> sister facility, Western PA Child Care.
> 
> Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old to detention, many of
> them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking,
> truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge
> often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled,
> handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense
> or even say goodbye to their families.
> 
> In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200
> million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it's unlikely the
> now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award.
> 
> During the case, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a
> routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing impact of his
> childhood detention — and had to show his mental health records in court to
> "explain why my behavior was so erratic."
> 
> Several of the childhood victims who were part of the lawsuit when it began
> in 2009 have since died from overdoses or suicide, prosecutors said.
> 
> Biden wags finger at White House Christmas party
> President Biden speaks at a "Christmas Dinner for All" in the East Room of
> the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
> The scheme, per The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney
> Robert Powell paying Ciavarella and Conahan $770,000, who in turn funneled
> juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers Powell
> partly owned.
> 
> Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony
> counts of failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a conspiracy.
> 
> Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was
> later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury
> that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served one
> year in federal prison, per The Citizens Voice.
> 
> Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail
> fraud charges, per the publication.
> 

I wonder why Biden pardoned this scumbag judge? I can't see *any* reason 
for it.

Did the judge steer some of his ill-gotten gains to Biden at some point? 
Did the judge do Biden some other favour at some point?

I wonder if we'll ever know....

-- 
Rhino