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The commutation of the prison sentence of former Luzerne County judge Michael Conahan by President Joe Biden is a disgraceful act that dishonors the children and families victimized by the judge and his accomplice, Mark Ciavarella, during the notorious "kids for cash" scandal two decades ago.
It is a particularly bitter irony that the scandal occurred in northeast Pennsylvania, the region Biden made central to his political identity and appeal.
The Biden administration broadly commuted the sentences of federal inmates who fit certain criteria, without regard for the nature of their crimes. This careless approach to such a serious matter will enhance cynicism about the American justice system in general, and the president's pardon and commutation power in particular, at precisely the moment when they must be above reproach.
Unfolding between 2000 and 2009, the "kids for cash" scandal was one of the most appalling examples of judicial corruption not just in Pennsylvania history, but in American history. Judges Conahan and Ciavarella conspired to close Luzerne County's public facility for juvenile offenders in favor of a private, for-profit detention center. For doing so, the judges received hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the company, PA Child Care.
But the venality of the two judges did not end there. Once the for-profit juvenile jail was built, they continued to take kickbacks — ultimately approaching $3 million — for sentencing children to long stays at the facility, for offenses as minor as jaywalking or trespassing. These decisions traumatized hundreds of young people and destroyed numerous families, for cash to fund the two men's lifestyles.
Conahan and Ciavarella coldly and strategically violated the trust placed in them by the public to enrich themselves at the expense of vulnerable children. Their crimes were calculated and cruel, far beyond the vast majority of offenses adjudicated by the justice system. In 2009, a federal court sentenced Conahan to more than 17 years in prison, and Ciavarella to 28 years.
During the COVID pandemic, the federal court system allowed low-risk inmates who were particularly vulnerable to the virus to serve their sentences under home confinement. This was generally a very good idea, and all evidence has shown that the program was safe, and may actually have reduced recidivism.
Conahan was one of the inmates eligible for home release, and has been serving his sentence at home since 2020 without incident. This should not have been allowed: Even the appearance of leniency in a case of such shocking cruelty should have been avoided.
The Biden administration, then, used the COVID home release list to dish out commutations, which truncate prison sentences without voiding the underlying convictions. While the list provided a simple way to identify low-risk federal inmates, using it without any apparent scrutiny applied to the individual cases was a grave and scandalous error. It's the kind of carelessness that delegitimizes otherwise important efforts at criminal justice reform, by showing little or no concern for the details of individual cases or the dignity of victims.
And it's the kind of decision that lends credence to arguments that not just the U.S. justice system, but the entire U.S. political system, is untrustworthy, corrupt and hostile to the values and well-being of everyday people. At a time when trust in American institutions is at an all-time low, heedlessly offering clemency to a man who personifies public corruption is among the worst things the outgoing president could have done.