Walsh Calls for Renaming of ‘President Biden Expressway’ after Clemency Granted to ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Judge

December 18, 2024

HARRISBURG –Rep. Jamie Walsh (R-Luzerne) today issued the following statement regarding President Joe Biden’s recent decision to commute the prison sentence of former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan.

Walsh is calling on Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and Scranton City Council to change the name of the President Biden Expressway.

“In light of the recent decision made by the Biden administration to commute former Judge Conahan’s sentence, I implore city officials and Mayor Cognetti to remove President Joe Biden’s name from the expressway sign that leads to the heart of the ‘Electric City’s’ downtown area.

“The children affected by Conahan’s actions of nearly 15 years ago are now adults suffering in their own ‘mental’ prisons due to his deeds of self-fulfillment. Crimes against children are everlasting, and there is no escape from the irreparable damage these predators caused by their actions.

“The commutation of Conahan’s sentence by President Biden exonerates the behavior of people in leadership roles in perpetuity and makes the ‘Kids-for-Cash’ program acceptable in the minds of future predatory agencies and people.

“At a time when local government leaders can show their constituents that they are on the side of the people, there has never been a better opportunity than this current situation. This is not a left versus right issue, it is right versus wrong. Children on both sides of the aisle were damaged by Conahan. I am simply asking elected officials in Scranton to now ‘do the right thing.’”

The former judge and his co-conspirator, Mark Ciavarella, were indicted in 2009 for conspiring to funnel juveniles to for-profit detention facilities in exchange for $2.8 million in kickbacks. The scheme affected thousands of young people, many of whom were first-time offenders convicted of minor infractions like truancy or jaywalking. Conahan had 20 months remaining in his sentence.

Following the case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned over 4,000 convictions involving more than 2,300 youths. The scandal triggered widespread reforms in the juvenile justice system.

Representative Jamie Walsh
117th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Andy Briggs
717-260-6474
abriggs@pahousegop.com
RepWalsh.com / Facebook.com/RepJamieWalsh