These criminals exploited kids and the elderly. Biden just let them go. | Opinion
Even fellow Democrats reacted with scorn to the president's decision to reduce the sentences of people who committed horrible crimes, including a judge who accepted bribes to send children to jail.
One of the perks of being president is the authority to grant clemency to individuals who have been convicted of crimes. President Joe Biden, who last week pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 people convicted by judges and juries, has bungled this responsibility as he has done with so many other tasks in the past four years.
Even fellow Democrats have reacted with scorn to Biden's decision to reduce the sentences of people who committed horrible crimes, including a judge who accepted bribes to send hundreds of children to jail.
“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,” Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic leader of the Keystone State, said about clemency in the case known as "kids for cash."
Biden's legacy already was in tatters, but his decision to wipe out the sentences of some of these criminals is shocking.
'Actions inflicted immeasurable damage'
As mentioned, Biden commuted the sentence of former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 for sending children to for-profit detention centers in exchange for kickbacks. Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges and was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison.
Biden's decision to grant clemency to the corrupt former judge is an outrage. Of all the people Biden could help, he chose to bail out a public official who took an oath to uphold the law but instead exploited troubled children to enrich himself.
But the outrages don't stop there. Biden also granted clemency to a former health care executive in Indiana who led a massive fraud scheme that ripped off nursing homes that take care of the elderly.
Former American Senior Communities CEO James Burkhart, at the time paid an annual salary of more than $1 million, orchestrated a $19.4 million scheme targeting nursing homes in the Marion County public health system. He used the money − intended to provide care for low-income elderly and disabled patients − to pay for private jets, vacation homes, diamond jewelry and gold bars.
Burkhart pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in 2018 and was sentenced to nearly 10 years in federal prison. Now, the president has set him free.
In yet another horrible decision by the president, this time in Minnesota, Biden granted clemency to Jim Carlson, the owner of a Duluth head shop who was convicted of conspiracy, distributing a controlled substance and other crimes.
As the Minnesota Star Tribune reported, "Medical experts testified at (Carlson's) trial that the criminal activity at the downtown store that regularly drew lines of people generated a slew of consequences: It created a public health crisis and dramatically increased narcotic-related police calls, emergency room visits and fatalities."
Carlson had requested "compassionate release" from federal prison, but the office of U.S. attorney Andrew Luger opposed it.
“For years, he sold destructive analog drugs that caused users to experience harmful side effects and caused severe disruption to Duluth’s health care and law enforcement services,” the Tribune quoted a court filing by the U.S. attorney's office. “And Carlson made millions doing so.”
Minnesota state Sen. Grant Hauschild, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, wrote a letter to Biden urging him to reverse his decision to commute Carlson's sentence.
"Mr. Carlson’s actions inflicted immeasurable damage on the Duluth community," Hauschild wrote. "His sale of synthetic drugs fueled widespread addiction, tearing apart families and creating a public safety crisis that impacted local businesses, residents, and the overall quality of life in downtown Duluth."
Biden reportedly is considering preemptive pardons
Believe it or not, Biden's pardons could get worse. The president reportedly is considering preemptive pardons of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, former Rep. Liz Cheney and others − and none has even been indicted let alone convicted of a crime.
The rationale for the move is the supposed threat that the second Trump administration poses to Cheney, Fauci and others. But preemptive pardons would set a terrible precedent, and it's one Donald Trump might leverage for his own purposes as president in the years ahead.
As we saw last week, Biden's commutations and pardons didn't benefit only those at the bottom of society. The president also bailed out criminals who held positions of power and used their influence to enrich themselves while inflicting harm on children, the elderly and people struggling with addictions.
And, of course, Biden has pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted of federal gun and tax felonies but had not yet been sentenced.
It's one thing to suggest that someone deserves a second chance, but it's another thing to erase the sentences of a swath of criminals who in several instances caused great harm. Whatever Biden has done with this decision, it's not justice.
We are a nation of laws, and punitive measures are meted out to people convicted of breaking the law for good reasons.
Biden's order to wipe away the legal consequences for people who exploited the vulnerable smacks of an abuse of power.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with Paste BN. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.