The Latest
The latest about Larry Krasner's campaign for progressive reform in Philadelphia
CITY & STATE
... Like others in the race, Krasner seems to relish the opportunity to battle the Trump administration in court on known flashpoints like sanctuary city legislation and civil asset forfeiture, as well as lesser-known challenges, like threats to the region resulting from defunding the Environmental Protection Agency — something he emphasized would be just one of the areas of concern he would be prepared to defend. “It could mean that when you have a president who guts the EPA, that you have a district attorney who will engage in pollution prosecution,” he said.
WHYY NEWSWORKS
Ask Larry Krasner, who's never worked as a prosecutor, why he's the right guy to be Philadelphia's next district attorney, and he has a ready answer.
"Because I've never been a prosecutor," he says.
There's more to it than that, but the heart of Krasner's pitch is that the ingrained culture of the district attorney's office has been so wrong-headed for so long that only someone free from its influences can bring the kind of change Philadelphia needs.
Once again the Pennsylvania House has passed a bill to hide the names of police officers responsible for killings or serious injuries from public view.
House Bill 27, passed on March 20, would impede basic transparency and damage the trust between communities and the hard-working officers who serve them. It has been accurately called the police secrecy bill by the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Far from creating a “cooling-off” period, it would anger people in the communities where such incidents most frequently take place. That anger would be justified.
Furthermore it is a solution in search of a problem.
PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE
Krasner is a civil rights attorney known for doing battle with police unions and defending the First Amendment rights of protesters ... Krasner simply wouldn’t have been a viable district attorney candidate a few years ago. He threatens the status quo as much as do Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. But he has grassroots support. ... the district attorney’s race may be a referendum on whether Philadelphia wants to be a progressive city or a Democratic one.
There is a toxic culture in the District Attorney’s Office that prizes prosecution and conviction rates over promoting justice. That culture must change — not only to ensure fairness for defendants like Kevin Prince and justice for victims and their families, but also to stop spending taxpayers’ money to create injustice.
Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala yesterday took a courageous and reasonable step in using her discretion not to pursue the death penalty in homicide matters. I applaud her decision because she recognizes, as I do, that pursuing the death penalty is “not in the best interests of this community or in the best interests of justice."
Unfortunately, my fellow candidates have declined to pledge the same, despite the fact that Philadelphia is the only northeastern city where pursuing the death penalty is still possible, and despite evidence that capital punishment has cost our city and state a billion dollars since the 1970s. This money would be better spent on public education, social workers, and addiction treatment programs, things that prevent crime and actually do make us safer. In human terms, this money is the equivalent of 500 new public school teachers per year statewide every year since the 1970s.
Finally, it is worth remembering that since 1962 no one in Pennsylvania has been executed against their will, while six people on death row have been exonerated.
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office was put on trial Thursday morning by the eight candidates — seven Democrats, one Republican — seeking to lead the scandal-plagued office. ...The most notable clash came between a candidate with no ties to the District Attorney’s Office, civil rights lawyer Lawrence Krasner, and the candidate with the most recent ties to the office, former First Assistant District Attorney Tariq El-Shabazz.
PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY
“The FOP endorsed Donald Trump, so of course they endorsed Rich Negrín. As they say on Sesame Street, two of these things belong together,” said Lawrence Krasner, a civil rights attorney who touts himself as the most progressive DA candidate among the seven contenders. “[Negrín] has two characteristics that belong to John McNesby, though not necessarily to the FOP membership. One, he’s authoritarian … two, he’s no reformer in a city that badly needs reform.”
THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE (COLUMN)
I initially didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of endorsing a white guy for the top elected law enforcement position in a city that’s nearly 50 percent Black.
But Larry’s no ordinary white guy. Quite the contrary, he’s the Blackest white guy I know. When it comes to candidates for political office, they shouldn’t tell the Black community what they’re gonna do for us. Instead, they should show us what they’ve already done. And Larry’s done a lot. A whole lot.
Here are three (of numerous) reasons why the Black community should vote for him:
