Biden commutes sentence of kids for cash judge

[Axulus]

The corrupt former Pennsylvania judge convicted of funneling juveniles to for-profit detention facilities in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks had his lengthy prison sentence commuted Thursday by President Biden.

“I am shocked and I am hurt,” Sandy Fonzo, whose son committed suicide after he was locked up as part of the scheme orchestrated by Conahan and former judge Mark Ciavarella, said in a statement.

More than 2,500 children between 2003 and 2008 were potentially given disproportionate sentences by Conahan and Ciavarella in order to populate the private detention centers paying them the kickbacks, investigators believe.

Thousands of juvenile sentences were vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the wake of the scandal.

Biden slammed for commuting sentence of notorious ‘Kids-for-Cash’ judge convicted of imprisoning juveniles for $2.1M kickbacks

Ex-Judge Michael Conahan, the jurist at the center of the so-called “Kids-for-Cash” scandal, was among 1,499 commutations Biden granted in the largest presidential act of clemency on a single day.…

nypost.com

Just feels really gross. Why is the pardon even a thing? How about a constitutional amendment to get rid of this gross and archaic practice? I would be fine transferring the power to maybe a 60% vote of the senate, or something else with an appropriately high bar, or just getting rid of it all together.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Better link.

Senior U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik, who has since died, sentenced Conahan in September 2011 to 17½ years in a federal prison for his role in the scandal.

Conahan has lived under house arrest since June 2020 under the jurisdiction of federal prison authorities in Florida. He requested release to home confinement amid the COVID-19 pandemic because of concerns about his health.

Definitely not a person who deserves a pardon, but 13 years served of 17 years isn't easy time. I'm more upset at his continued home confinement.

Sucks all around really, but at least he did serve near a decade in prison.

 

[thebeave]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours. If he looked at pardon requests for 4 hours a day, that would take him over 112 days! He's obviously not doing that. He's just rubber stamping what his staff is handing him. I wonder how many inkpads he went through? I suspect if you looked in detail at the pardons, you'd find many that could be traced back to Biden cronies, friends, staff, people he owed favors to, quid pro quo's, etc. I think its time to reign in the pardon process. It needs reform drastically.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours.

You are under the impression that Biden reviews each of these cases? Do you think he reads all of the bills he signs into law too?

He's just rubber stamping what his staff is handing him. I wonder how many inkpads he went through?

Might use the robo-signer that Rumsfeld did for those 'sorry your loved one died' letters during the first 21 months of the Iraq operation.

I suspect if you looked in detail at the pardons, you'd find many that could be traced back to Biden cronies, friends, staff, people he owed favors to, quid pro quo's, etc.

Well, as long as you suspect it, no need to go any further.

I think its time to reign in the pardon process. It needs reform drastically.

I'd start with the turkeys. Why those specific ones? What is their relationship to Hunter?

 

[ideologyhunter]

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious.

Wikipedia calls it a blanket pardon for 1000+ offenders who went into home confinement during the covid pandemic. Although why this category calls for a pardon -- why that is the distinguishing characteristic -- escapes me. Undoubtedly the Repubs will run with it, as would any party, as their go-to whataboutism when Trump's corruption becomes apparent and endemic in the coming year. Anyone wanna buy my TV?

 

[thebeave]

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious.

Wikipedia calls it a blanket pardon for 1000+ offenders who went into home confinement during the covid pandemic. Although why this category calls for a pardon -- why that is the distinguishing characteristic -- escapes me. Undoubtedly the Repubs will run with it, as would any party, as their go-to whataboutism when Trump's corruption becomes apparent and endemic in the coming year. Anyone wanna buy my TV?

Seriously, I meant to put in a disclaimer at the end of my post saying, "Yes, Trump and Republicans do a lot of stupid and sketchy shit too.". Oh, well. I'll try to remember for next time.

 

[thebeave]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours.

You are under the impression that Biden reviews each of these cases? Do you think he reads all of the bills he signs into law too?

He's just rubber stamping what his staff is handing him. I wonder how many inkpads he went through?

Might use the robo-signer that Rumsfeld did for those 'sorry your loved one died' letters during the first 21 months of the Iraq operation.

I suspect if you looked in detail at the pardons, you'd find many that could be traced back to Biden cronies, friends, staff, people he owed favors to, quid pro quo's, etc.

Well, as long as you suspect it, no need to go any further.

I think its time to reign in the pardon process. It needs reform drastically.

I'd start with the turkeys. Why those specific ones? What is their relationship to Hunter?

If it was me, I would read and study each case. Wouldn't you? Of course, that would mean a much lower number of pardons, i.e. more in line with historical presidential pardon numbers. A wise man once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility". It was Socrates if I'm not mistaken.

 

[laughing dog]

The corrupt former Pennsylvania judge convicted of funneling juveniles to for-profit detention facilities in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks had his lengthy prison sentence commuted Thursday by President Biden.

“I am shocked and I am hurt,” Sandy Fonzo, whose son committed suicide after he was locked up as part of the scheme orchestrated by Conahan and former judge Mark Ciavarella, said in a statement.

More than 2,500 children between 2003 and 2008 were potentially given disproportionate sentences by Conahan and Ciavarella in order to populate the private detention centers paying them the kickbacks, investigators believe.

Thousands of juvenile sentences were vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the wake of the scandal.

Biden slammed for commuting sentence of notorious ‘Kids-for-Cash’ judge convicted of imprisoning juveniles for $2.1M kickbacks

Ex-Judge Michael Conahan, the jurist at the center of the so-called “Kids-for-Cash” scandal, was among 1,499 commutations Biden granted in the largest presidential act of clemency on a single day.…

nypost.com

Just feels really gross. Why is the pardon even a thing? How about a constitutional amendment to get rid of this gross and archaic practice? I would be fine transferring the power to maybe a 60% vote of the senate, or something else with an appropriately high bar, or just getting rid of it all together.

Biden seems to be leaning heavily on the "lame" part of lame duck. He ought to be ready to "duck" as well.

Add this atrocity to the list of good reasons for a constitutional amendment eliminating or severely restricting the POTUS's authority to pardon.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours.

You are under the impression that Biden reviews each of these cases? Do you think he reads all of the bills he signs into law too?

If it was me, I would read and study each case. Wouldn't you? Of course, that would mean a much lower number of pardons, i.e. more in line with historical presidential pardon numbers. A wise man once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility". It was Socrates if I'm not mistaken.

Biden pardons a guy that was needlessly putting kids into prisons for money payments from said prisons... and your problem is the bulk of the pardons.

 

[laughing dog]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours.

You are under the impression that Biden reviews each of these cases? Do you think he reads all of the bills he signs into law too?

He's just rubber stamping what his staff is handing him. I wonder how many inkpads he went through?

Might use the robo-signer that Rumsfeld did for those 'sorry your loved one died' letters during the first 21 months of the Iraq operation.

I suspect if you looked in detail at the pardons, you'd find many that could be traced back to Biden cronies, friends, staff, people he owed favors to, quid pro quo's, etc.

Well, as long as you suspect it, no need to go any further.

I think its time to reign in the pardon process. It needs reform drastically.

I'd start with the turkeys. Why those specific ones? What is their relationship to Hunter?

If it was me, I would read and study each case. Wouldn't you? Of course, that would mean a much lower number of pardons, i.e. more in line with historical presidential pardon numbers. A wise man once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility". It was Socrates if I'm not mistaken.

Actually, those exact words are attributed to Spiderman's uncle Ben.

 

[TomC]

Biden pardons a guy that was needlessly putting kids into prisons for money payments from said prisons... and your problem is the bulk of the pardons.

Did Biden pardon him?
My understanding is that Biden commuted the remainder of his sentence. That's not the same thing.
Tom

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Biden pardons a guy that was needlessly putting kids into prisons for money payments from said prisons... and your problem is the bulk of the pardons.

Did Biden pardon him?
My understanding is that Biden commuted the remainder of his sentence. That's not the same thing.
Tom

That is correct. Commuted.

 

[Derec]

A corrupt politician from Illinois is also on the megalist of commutations.

Former Dixon comptroller who embezzled more than $50 million has sentence commuted

Biden is rapidly destroying what little is left of his legacy. Sad.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

A corrupt politician from Illinois is also on the megalist of commutations.

Former Dixon comptroller who embezzled more than $50 million has sentence commuted

Again, one of those served a large chunk of time in prison, 10 years. So good for that at least. I'm actually surprised she got so long for the crime. Personally, crimes like hers make me want her to serve community service in lieu of prison time anyway. $2.5 million average a year though... how big is Dixon?

The CARES Act thing... she doesn't look like she is high-risk for Covid complications. Which then does lead us to the next thing, what does the CARES Act have to do with all of these communtations? No one in jail that wasn't afraid of Covid or see it as a way to get out of prison not deserving commutation?

Biden is rapidly destroying what little is left of his legacy. Sad.

Seeing that the Senate (and Trump) doesn't allow legislation to get passed anymore, legacies are hard to come by.

 

[southernhybrid]

A corrupt politician from Illinois is also on the megalist of commutations.

Former Dixon comptroller who embezzled more than $50 million has sentence commuted

Again, one of those served a large chunk of time in prison, 10 years. So good for that at least. I'm actually surprised she got so long for the crime. Personally, crimes like hers make me want her to serve community service in lieu of prison time anyway. $2.5 million average a year though... how big is Dixon?

The CARES Act thing... she doesn't look like she is high-risk for Covid complications. Which then does lead us to the next thing, what does the CARES Act have to do with all of these communtations? No one in jail that wasn't afraid of Covid or see it as a way to get out of prison not deserving commutation?

Biden is rapidly destroying what little is left of his legacy. Sad.

Seeing that the Senate (and Trump) doesn't allow legislation to get passed anymore, legacies are hard to come by.

Plus all of her assets were sold off and the city also got 30 million from insurance companies, so they got back about 40 million of what she embezzled. I don't see that this is such a big deal, as she has already served over 10 years, if you count the home confinement for a non violent crime. I don't think you can tell by looking at someone if they were at high risk for COVID complications. Do we know if she has asthma, heart disease, diabetes etc. Those are all high risk things.

 

[bilby]

Wouldn't Cars for Kids balance out Kids for Cash? So, maybe not so bad afterall?

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious. That's a hell of a lot of people for one guy to process, especially an old, tired guy like Biden. Even if he spent only 20 minutes reviewing each case, that would take 450 hours.

You are under the impression that Biden reviews each of these cases? Do you think he reads all of the bills he signs into law too?

He's just rubber stamping what his staff is handing him. I wonder how many inkpads he went through?

Might use the robo-signer that Rumsfeld did for those 'sorry your loved one died' letters during the first 21 months of the Iraq operation.

I suspect if you looked in detail at the pardons, you'd find many that could be traced back to Biden cronies, friends, staff, people he owed favors to, quid pro quo's, etc.

Well, as long as you suspect it, no need to go any further.

I think its time to reign in the pardon process. It needs reform drastically.

I'd start with the turkeys. Why those specific ones? What is their relationship to Hunter?

If it was me, I would read and study each case. Wouldn't you? Of course, that would mean a much lower number of pardons, i.e. more in line with historical presidential pardon numbers. A wise man once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility". It was Socrates if I'm not mistaken.

Actually, those exact words are attributed to Spiderman's uncle Ben.

Yeah, Ben Socrates. Played centre forward for Panathinaikos as a young man, after being bitten by a radioactive footballer.

 

[Derec]

Again, one of those served a large chunk of time in prison, 10 years. So good for that at least. I'm actually surprised she got so long for the crime. Personally, crimes like hers make me want her to serve community service in lieu of prison time anyway. $2.5 million average a year though... how big is Dixon?

Quite small - ~15k people. So she stole >$3k per every man, woman and child in the town.

The CARES Act thing... she doesn't look like she is high-risk for Covid complications. Which then does lead us to the next thing, what does the CARES Act have to do with all of these communtations? No one in jail that wasn't afraid of Covid or see it as a way to get out of prison not deserving commutation?

It is a weird criterion. Especially since it is blanket commutation, i.e. not one considering individual circumstances. That's how "cash for kids" judge and a corrupt politician end up on the list.

Seeing that the Senate (and Trump) doesn't allow legislation to get passed anymore, legacies are hard to come by.

Biden managed to accomplish quite a bit. The bipartisan infrastructure act for one.
Too bad made some poor decisions lately - first and foremost his refusal to withdraw until it was too late to run primaries.

 

[Derec]

Plus all of her assets were sold off and the city also got 30 million from insurance companies, so they got back about 40 million of what she embezzled.

So, if the numbers are right, she paid back only $10M of the $50M she stole. What did she do with the rest?
And even if she returned all the $50M she stole after she was caught, such brazen corruption deserves significant prison time.

I don't see that this is such a big deal, as she has already served over 10 years, if you count the home confinement for a non violent crime.

You do not think a politician stealing $50M is a big deal? Why not? Elected officials should be held to a higher standard, not lower.
Do you think Bernie Madoff "with your money" should have been released after 10 years? His crime was just as non-violent as hers.

I don't think you can tell by looking at someone if they were at high risk for COVID complications. Do we know if she has asthma, heart disease, diabetes etc. Those are all high risk things.

Whatever the case, COVID pandemic is long over. No reason why she should not have served the remainder of her sentence in the Big House.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The whole 1500 pardons is very suspicious.

Wikipedia calls it a blanket pardon for 1000+ offenders who went into home confinement during the covid pandemic. Although why this category calls for a pardon -- why that is the distinguishing characteristic -- escapes me. Undoubtedly the Repubs will run with it, as would any party, as their go-to whataboutism when Trump's corruption becomes apparent and endemic in the coming year. Anyone wanna buy my TV?

Thank you. It makes much more sense this way.