President Joe Biden has proudly referenced his roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on countless occasions.
But after he pardoned a judge involved in a cash-for-kids program that jailed thousands of juveniles in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Electric City is no longer feeling that spark of love.
The newly elected Pennsylvania Republican State Rep. Brenda Pugh called on officials in Scranton to remove Biden’s name from expressways labeled in his honor after he pardoned former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan.
That now-disgraced official was convicted after taking kickbacks in exchange for sending juveniles to jail for committing minor crimes, or committing no crime whatsoever, according to PAHomepage.
Pugh said the fact that Biden pardoned Conahan was a disgrace that merits renaming the “President Joe Biden Expressway,” originally named for the commander-in-chief by the Scranton City Council in 2021.
“Conahan’s conduct is forever a blight on Pennsylvania and is a slap in the face to the victims and their families who deserve justice to be served for his atrocious crimes,” Pugh wrote, per PAHomepage.
“His clemency places complicity and a stamp of approval on his behavior,” she continued. “Children are among the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians. This decision is nothing short of a travesty and his clemency is a miscarriage of justice.”
Pugh is far from the only Pennsylvania official to express concern over the presidential pardon.
Even Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro cringed at the pardon of the corrupt official.
“I’ll offer these thoughts as an outsider, not privy to all the information he looked at, but I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said last week, per the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Hellbound and Down 