The Latest
The latest about Larry Krasner's campaign for progressive reform in Philadelphia
District Attorney candidate Larry Krasner "decisively" won an online poll by the civic reform group Philadelphia 3.0, the group announced today.
More than half of the participants selected Krasner out of a field of seven candidates as their top choice. Although this was not a scientific poll of voters overall, this result indicates that Krasner is performing extremely well with some of the city's most well-informed voters.
KYW NEWSRADIO 1060
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Advocates for re-entry are getting organized around a new political action committee. This PAC for those impacted by incarceration is hoping to elect the next district attorney.
The BLOC Party was registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State in February. Now Harrell and their supporters, including rapper Freeway, are working to get funding from other PACs and from the community to send a message in May’s DA and judicial races. Their first endorsement goes to DA candidate Larry Krasner.
“He wants to end mass incarceration, stop seeking the death penalty, end stop and frisk,” says Harrell, “he’s a civil rights attorney who has always been on the side of the people.”
Today, civil rights lawyer Larry Krasner's campaign for District Attorney received the support of District 1199C, NUHHCE, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. One of the largest and most progressive labor unions in Philadelphia, District 1199C has over 13,000 members concentrated in hospitals and the healthcare industry.
“It is truly an honor to receive the endorsement of District 1199C,” said Larry Krasner. “Under the effective and progressive leadership of the legendary Henry Nicholas and of Executive Vice President Chris Woods, 1199C has been a leader in countless progressive struggles. Members of 1199C have given their lives in the battle for social justice and human dignity. I am proud that we stand shoulder to shoulder.”
Civil rights lawyer and candidate for District Attorney Larry Krasner overwhelmingly won the endorsement of Philly for Change, one of Philadelphia's largest and most respected progressive activist organizations. Philly for Change is an affiliate of the national organization Democracy for America, which fights for democracy, social justice, peace, and the environment at the local, state, and national level.
“It’s time for progressives to think big,” said Sam Durso, Philly For Change Co-Chair. “The times demand a D.A. who can reimagine the justice system and fundamentally change the plague of incarceration that sabotages our city. That’s why we overwhelmingly supported Larry Krasner. We’re called Philly For Change, not Philly For Continuity.”
DAILY NEWS (COLUMN)
... Philadelphia voters are going to the polls next month in a Democratic primary that will be critical for picking Williams' successor. Almost all of the candidates want to swing the pendulum away from the "convictions at any cost" culture that permeated the Abraham years, and surely no one want to bring back such zealous pursuit of the death penalty. That's all good, but the raft of questionable convictions from the past presents a challenge for any future DA.
Last week, after I wrote about Lowenstein's Ogrod book, one of those candidates — the civil rights lawyer Lawrence Krasner — issued a statement in which he said "it is clear that for decades the practice and policy of the District Attorney’s Office has been to win convictions at any cost, too often at the cost of justice itself." He called for a number of concrete steps including the courtroom use of confessions only if they are videotaped, an end to the death penalty, and refusing to prosecute cases when the evidence developed by police is clearly lacking.
Following in the footsteps of Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council members Blondell Reynolds Brown and Helen Gym, civil rights attorney Larry Krasner has won the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Working Families Party in the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney.
“Larry Krasner is the right person to lead law enforcement in Philadelphia,” said Brandon Evans, director of Pennsylvania Working Families Party. “Larry knows that stop and frisk policies, mass incarceration, and prosecution of low level, nonviolent crimes not only don’t deter crime, but condemn a significant portion of our city’s residents and families to disrupted lives, and diminished life outcomes.”
Walter Ogrod has been behind bars since 1992 and on death row for 20 years. He was convicted in the 1988 murder of a little girl, near Oxford Circle. That the case is a tragedy is not in doubt. The extent of the tragedy is.
Will Bunch’s article (Daily News, March 28) describes the efforts of author Tom Lowenstein “to show that Philadelphia police and prosecutors had used a false confession and the beyond-dubious involvement of a notorious and later-discredited jailhouse snitch to solve a high-profile murder by locking up an innocent man.”
That is how the article describes it.
CHESTNUT HILL LOCAL
... When asked questions about how they would handle certain issues, such as prison overcrowding, gun violence, corruption and quality of life crimes, the candidates largely emphasized the need for reform in the DA’s office. Krasner, a longtime criminal defense attorney, consistently brought up reform and how, as a political outsider and the self-proclaimed most progressive candidate running, he was the best one to make the necessary changes to the DA’s office.
As District Attorney, I won’t tolerate double standards. The law applies equally to all, regardless of livelihood. While it is inappropriate for any candidate to pre-judge a case under consideration by the District Attorney’s Office, this article clearly points to the need for a District Attorney who will look closely at the facts and act without favoritism.
See article:
Off-duty cop ran over Danny Dimitri. Was there drag racing?
(Mike Newall, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 2017)
