President Joe Biden's mass clemency has faced backlash as it included a judge in the infamous "kids-for-cash" scandal. And a new report Friday evening said the White House did so without considering the specifics of the case.
The outgoing president on Thursday said he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others. The White House called it the largest single-day act of clemency in American history.
"America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances," Biden said. "As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation.
Commutation recipients, he said, were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
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But among those whose sentences were commuted: former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 in a scheme where he accepted kickbacks from for-profit detention centers in exchange for wrongly sending youths to their facilities.
The case forced the state Supreme Court to toss out 4,000 youth convictions and the judges involved were ordered to pay $200 million to the victims.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) blasted the move, saying in a statement, “I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Politico reported Friday that the White House didn't consider case specifics when considering the charges against Conahan or any other people whose sentences were commuted. An administration official who spoke to the outlet and was granted anonymity said the commutations were granted as part of a larger set of parameters.
The offenders were on COVID-19-related home confinement and their crimes were nonviolent, not sex-related and not terrorism-related, the official told Politico. The offenders were said to be low-risk to further commit crimes and weren't involved in gangs while in prison.
None were made as part of an individual decision, the official said.
