Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday said President Joe Biden “got it absolutely wrong” when he commuted the sentence of a former Luzerne County judge convicted in the “Kids for Cash” scandal.
Speaking at an unrelated press conference in Biden’s childhood hometown of Scranton — in a building on Biden Street, no less — Shapiro said that he disagreed with the decision the president made on Thursday in commuting the sentence of Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 of sending children to prison in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks from a private jail.
“Governors and presidents have unique power to grant pardons and clemency and commute sentences. It is an absolute power, and it is a power that should be used incredibly carefully,” Shapiro said. “I study every single case that comes across my desk where there’s a request for a pardon or clemency or a reduction of sentence, and I take it very seriously. I weigh the merits of the case. I weigh what occurred in the court proceedings. I think about public safety and victims and all of those issues factor into my decision.”
“I recognize that those on the outside can question those decisions, as you are here today and posing a question to me as to the clemency granted by President Biden,” Shapiro added. “So I’ll offer these thoughts as an outsider, not privy to all the information he looked at, but I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania.”
On Thursday, Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were placed in home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic, and granted pardons to 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes.
“As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses,” Biden said Thursday.
Biden commutes sentences of nearly 1,500 people, pardons 39 in historic clemency action
Shapiro called the “Kids for Cash” scandal not only a “black eye on the community,” but said it affected families in “really deep and profound and sad ways.”
“Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart,” Shapiro said of the scandal. “There was all kinds of mental health issues and anguish that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make a buck off a kid’s back.”
Sandy Fonzo, whose son died by suicide after he was put in juvenile detention, said in statement Thursday that the commutation was “deeply painful,” adding “this pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer.”
State Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) called the commutation “incomprehensible and indefensible” in a statement late Thursday. “Where does ruining the lives of vulnerable kids in order to enrich oneself warrant a presidential commutation?”
Shapiro added Friday that he thought the 17-year sentence for Conahan was “too light.”
“The fact that he’s been allowed out over the last years because of COVID, was on house arrest and now has been granted clemency, I think, is absolutely wrong,” Shapiro said. “He should have been in prison for at least the 17 years that he was sentenced to by a jury of his peers. He deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man.”
