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Several Pennsylvania officials, especially in the Scranton area where President Joe Biden hails fromare calling on the city to reverse the 2021 freeway branch renaming 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 the “kids for money” scandal in which he took bribes to sentence juveniles to for-profit prisons.
Wilkes-Barre Common Pleas Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr. they were convicted in 2008. The former served time in prison, followed by a COVID-induced house arrest until Biden’s pardon.
Walsh said some of the children affected had been convicted of minor offenses such as jaywalking. The Democratic-majority Pennsylvania Supreme Court has thrown out 4,000 juvenile convictions as a result of the scandal.
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The former Central Scranton Expressway — now the President Biden Expressway — branches off from I-81, which continues toward Binghamton, NY (Charles Creitz)
“In light of the recent decision by the Biden administration to commute former Judge Conahan’s sentence, I am imploring city officials and Mayor [Paige Gebhardt Cognetti] remove President Joe Biden’s name from the expressway sign leading to the heart of the Electric City’s downtown.”
In 2021, the mayor and city council unanimously approved the rebranding of a three-quarter-mile stretch of the Central Scranton Expressway from Interstate 81 and its continuation via what was then Spruce Street through downtown as the “President Biden Expressway” or “Biden Avenue.” .
President Biden Freeway initially serves as a short PA-307 bypass into the city, continuing as “Biden Ave” toward northbound US-11, which in turn meets the ultimate colloquial “Route 9” — the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“The children affected by Conahan’s actions of nearly 15 years ago are now adults suffering in their own ‘mental’ prisons because of his acts of self-fulfillment,” Walsh said in a statement.
Former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella. (AP Photo/The Citizens’ Voice, Mark Moran)
Crimes against children are eternal and there is no escape from the irreparable damage caused by these predators.
Walsh argued that the issue is nonpartisan but “right vs. wrong” and that Biden no longer deserves a memorial because his pardon “absolves guilt [Conahan’s] behavior” as a signal to future corrupt public officials.
State representative. Brenda Pugh, R-Luzerne, he said to WBRE that Conahan’s behavior was “an embarrassment to Pennsylvania” and that Biden’s pardon was “nothing but a travesty.”
“[H]a pardon is a miscarriage of justice,” Pugh said, adding President Biden’s highway therefore, “there will forever be a scar to remind people of what happened here [in NEPA].”
Meanwhile, Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak made his case directly to Cognetti, writing the mayor a letter saying returning “Biden Avenue to Spruce Street” would help restore confidence in city leadership and reaffirm a commitment to governance that best reflects the city’s values.
“This [pardon] brought significant negative attention to Scranton, tarnishing the city’s image and reflecting poorly on Lackawanna County as a whole,” Chermak wrote.
In an interview Friday, Cognetti said Biden’s change of Conahan was a “grave mistake” that opened “deep and terrible” wounds to Scrantonians and NEPA residents.
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Biden and Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (Reuters)
She echoed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s statement earlier this week that Conahan’s sentence was too lenient.
“[The case] there were just things you wouldn’t think a screenwriter could make up — how systematic it is 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 termination was irreversible.
Cognetti noted that she is currently mayor partly because of the public corruption of other officials.
Predecessor Bill Courtright resigned in July 2019 after being convicted of bribery, corruption and conspiracy. Courtright’s departure led to two brief interim mayors before Cognetti was elected that November as an independent candidate and in 2021 as a Democrat.
Cognetti added that calls to remove Biden’s name from road signs are not new and remain largely based on bias.
“The president is from here, and there are few communities that can boast of being the hometown of the president of the United States. We will continue to celebrate and be very proud to have Scranton’s hometown son as president.”
“I think the two issues are mixed up for political reasons. And I would like us to treat these things as they are. We have to continue to deal with corruption in government,” Cognetti added.
“It is separate from the president’s legacy of 50 years in office and Scranton’s most successful son.”
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Bidenova Street; the former Smrekova Street (Getty)
When asked recently about Biden granting a pardon to Conahan, Shapiro said presidents have “unique and absolute” power to do so, but should use it “incredibly carefully.”
“I look at every single case that comes across my desk where there is a request for clemency or clemency or worse, or a reduced sentence. And I take that very seriously,” said Shapiro, who previously served as attorney general.
“I feel very strongly that President Biden got it completely wrong and created a lot of pain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This is not only a black eye on the community because of the scandal, but it has also affected families in a really deep and profound and sad way,” he said.
