Biden’s Clemency for Kids-For-Cash Judge Undeserved, Some Pennsylvanians Say

(The Center Square) - By commuting the sentences of 1,500 people who were released to home confinement during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden drew the ire of many Pennsylvanians who were affected by what became known as the “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne County. “It is truly disheartening to see a national leader on criminal justice issues for decades so wantonly undermine the rule of equal justice in his waning days,” said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Dallas. Michael Conahan was one of two judges accused of receiving kickbacks in exchange for sending juvenile offenders to two private prisons. He received a prison sentence of 17.5 years in 2011, which has now ended over two years early in the largest single-day act of clemency issued by a president.