When it comes to defense district attorney Larry Krasner, I am deeply conflicted.
Not about his performance, which has been abysmal, despite one or two spots of light — such a reviewing questionable convictions, or attacking cops who lie on the stand.
Knowing where he was coming from — the George Soros School of Restorative Justice (whatever that is) — made it easy for me to oppose him every time he ran — primary or general.
Why did I oppose him? Let’s start with his mission to end “mass incarceration,” which, along with the school-to-prison-pipeline, is a progressive myth. There are a lot of Americans in jail, and nearly all of them have earned it.
The myth, or fraud, of mass incarceration is rarely held up to the light. We incarcerate less than 1% of the population. Does that seem unreasonable? Yes, minorities are over represented among violent criminals. Yes, white males are over represented among serial killers. It’s not race, it’s actions.
Krasner’s belief is that every criminal is a victim and that jail is bad, for everyone.
In his first campaign, he said he would simply not enforce the law on a variety of crimes that he thought were small potatoes, or racist.
Such as shoplifting.
Predictably, we have a tsunami of shoplifting, which has led to the departure of numerous retailers, including some Starbucks and two Center City Wawas. Absolutely predictable to anyone not locked in the fantastical progressive mindset.
He decriminalized shoplifting under $500, identity theft, forgery, and drunk driving, and he required prosecutors to tell the judge before sentencing the cost of incarceration, as if justice should be influenced by cost.
I detailed all this and his bait-and-switch “bail reform” in this article in the Philadelphia Weekly.
So he is the worst Philadelphia D.A. I have ever seen, even worse than Seth Williams who went to jail for being on the take. That was individual graft. Krasner has polluted the entire system.
There is no way Philadelphians should have elected him, and the majority didn’t. He gets between 10-20% of registered voters, but a win is a win, but keep that in mind when you read about his “overwhelming” victory.
But Philadelphians did elect him and while I don’t want to see him in office, I can’t go along with the Republican-dominated state House removing him from office by impeachment.
He said what he was going to do, and is doing it.
The insanity began with his first race in 2017. He was one of seven candidates, most of whom engaged in a race to the Left. There was no “law and order” candidate for the city’s chief law enforcement job. It was like a progressive talking point sudden came to life, with unforeseen consequences, like the explosion of teenage suicides. Krasner won the primary with 38% of the vote, 59,368 votes out of 1 million registered voters.
He is performing poorly, but if that were the only qualification for removal, half of America’s political class would be vulnerable.
Krasner is a progressive buffoon and a disgrace, but has he acted criminally? I don’t see it.
The impeachment — which is a list of allegations — would be followed by a Pennsylvania Senate trial in which a two-thirds vote is required to convict. . That means 34 of the 50 senators would have to vote guilty. Following the Nov. 8 elections, the chamber is made up of 28 Republicans and 22 Democrats.
Can the GOP persuade six Democrats to join them in removing Krasner?
Highly unlikely, and wrong for the reasons I mentioned.
Yes, I must agree 100%. I don’t live in Philly and can’t intelligently comment on the job he is doing. But this whole idea that impeachment is the answer if you don’t like what a politician is doing is asinine on any level. Impeachment is for CRIMINAL behavior, not for removing a politician you don’t like. That’s what ELECTIONS are for. This could become a bigger question on the national level should a Republican-controlled House attempt to impeach Biden. That would be yet another ridiculous exercise, as he clearly has done nothing criminal. Trump’s impeachment, on the other hand, was very specifically about CRIMINAL behavior, and hence a justifiable use of the process.
How can you say Biden has done nothing wrong before you hear the evidence?
Do you ACTUALLY believe he never discussed Hunter’s business with his son?
He said it and there is photographic evidence he met with Hunter and some business associates.
Pretty darn weak tea, Stu. How does anyone know that you or I are not criminals? Nobody can say until they’ve seen the “evidence.” I’ve talked to two people who were later convicted of securities fraud. One was a client on an unrelated matter, and another defrauded my brother. I talked with both of them about “their business” and could easily have been photographed with them! Seems to me you might’ve talked to a corrupt politician or two in your time–how do we know you weren’t in on it?
Trump’s DOJ investigated (and the DOJ continues to investigate) Hunter Biden, including the notorious laptop that the FBI has had since 2019–longer than the Mueller investigation. My view is that if there is a there, there, we’d have a lot more than supposition and innuendo. It’s pretty clear that Hunter is a sick puppy and sometime drug-addict who traded on his father’s name (and wasn’t even very good at that, since most of his deals fell through) and quite plausibly peddled influence that he didn’t have, and heck, influence Biden didn’t have, as he didn’t have the final word on anything as VP. There is no money trail running remotely near POTUS. After all, unlike some other folks, we have Biden’s tax returns. So, show me the money!
Actually, I would like to see a congressional hearing on the issue. It was the Joe McCarthy hearings that discredited him. Maybe the Kevin McCarthy hearings will do the same for the conspiracy theorists. If there is some real evidence there, I will change my mind, but I seriously doubt it.
Stu, criminal behavior is only one reason office holders are impeached. Refusing to enforce laws enacted by the legislature can also be grounds for impeachment. To say otherwise is to accept that we are stuck with pols who refuse to do their jobs for as long as they can get elected with the vote of under 20% of the electorate.
There is an established doctrine called prosecution discretion. I think Krasner abuses it, but we will see if it warrants removal.
True, but that is a political question, not a criminal one.
If he’s driving Starbucks out of the city, he can’t be all bad.
HAPPY SATURDAY !!!
pallie,
Politics is what got ‘Let ’em loose Larry’ the job. Poor performance should get him removed. As a District Attorney, your job is to FOLLOW the law. Protect it and prevent the abuse of it. You don’t get to choose what laws you like and which laws you will not enforce. Certainly, working with the police department will clarify the force applied to non-violent crimes versus the more serious crimes of assault, etc.
It should not matter who is the party i charge. In a more perfect world, all elected officials would be searching for the truth. Unfortuately, that is not the case here or in Harrisburg.
Tony
I agree with most of your points but question the actions behind the visual failures of a job that has to be decided by voters that are party oriented and whatever the issues will retain the same incompetent. I raise two questions that keep candidates like Krasner in office. 1-At what point do the elected officials in the wards where crime is rampant, and shootings take the lives of their youth see the obvious pandering by Krasner with the cliche of helping black, brown and homeless people like safety and prosecution are meaningless to low bail Larry. 2- How legal is the connection between Councilwoman Gyn’s husband Bret Flaherty a civil rights attorney when he and Krasner have a joint press conference of a police shooting and Krasner without hearing or trial calls the officers “Killers”? At least the Bar Association should have immediately condemned the actions of a lawyer representing the commonwealth as a prosecutor have a press conference with the lawyer suing the city and the eventual actions of the District Attorney standing next to him.
Am I the only person who finds it amusing that the Number One Law Enforcement Person in Philadelphia refuses to enforce the law?
Amusing, yes. What’s amazing is he believes this crap!
I agree with freeze. Impeachment is not an answer. Voting is. If the people of Philadelphia voted for this disaster, then they deserve what they voted for and those who stayed home instead of voting shouldn’t be whining. I was not a fan of Peruto, but I voted for him anyway before I left Philly because Krasner is a disaster. That such a small number showed up to vote in the DA’s race is very disheartening.
Wanda ( Freeze )
Your argument would be more valid – although not realistic – if the actions of krasner only affected the Philly and the residents that voted for him.
Wanda, the next time you visit Philly, be sure to leave your car windows down and your residence wide open. Do any of you remember when the city was a huge vacation stop for Europe ? It didn’t last long. The crime rate on our visitors went through the roof ! The murders were enough to clear the city and send our European visitors south to Florida.
Tony
Anthony, I was not addressing you. So just go away with your incoherence. You bore the hell out of me with your boneheaded commentaries.
Wanda,
OUCH ! Coming from someone with such credentials really really hurts. NOT !
So it’s okay to ignore the laws you don’t like. Break the laws that SWORE TO UPHOLD………
You woke far left socialists are determined to destroy MY country. I won’t allow it to happen !
DRAIN THE SWAMP ! and VOTE THEM ALL OUT !
Tony
Tony, with your phony superior attitude you tend to forget this is MY country as well. This is also Wanda and Freeze country. Just because you decide things should be a certain way does not mean it is the correct way.
You are not special, nor are you better than people who do not agree with you. In fact, in some ways you are not as good as those people. DEAL WITH IT!
Wanda, I concur with you and freeze. Impeachment is not the answer to Krasner being removed. We are treading on a very slippery slope If this is allowed to happen.
If freeze(George sanders or Otto Preminger ?)Wanda and bogart are against impeachment then it must be the right thing to do.Exterminate the brute.
Steve, I do not see where the 3 of us you mentioned said anything about being against impeachment in general. We said we were against it in this case.
HAPPY SATURDAY !!!
Steve,
I haven’t looked at the constitution of the Commonwealth in some time, therefore I don’t know if we follow the U.S. Constitution or completely rewrote our own.
In any event, a recall or impeachment are almost impossible to happen, especially since the dimocrats are taking the PA House. I’m not sure about the Senate.
Our elected officials are more concerned about the politics and their party than about the people that they were elected to represent.
Tony
Illegal gun carrying individuals who walk the streets in Philadelphia belong in jail. A large group of people want to enact gun laws that would restrict the buying , possessing and carrying handguns. Let’s enforce the gun laws on the books and incarcerate these law breakers. By jailing these individuals we will see a reduction in homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies by point of gun. Larry Krasner has failed to prosecute and jail these law breakers. His actions along with his failure to prosecute shop-lifting criminals defines his approach to criminal justice reform. I believe the fear of crime is sometimes worst than the crime itself. City residents live in a state of hyper vigilance always looking for threats when out in public. Larry Krasner and his approach to criminal justice reform is a failure. However, he is a true believer his policies are working but will take time. As a city resident I am sick of living in a hyper vigilant world. I am fed up waiting for his reforms to work, it now in it’s 5th year of policy failure. He needs to go, the sooner the better.
👍
I found this under:
Facts on Larry Krasner
Peter Gerold, 70 yrs old
Travon Register, 6 yrs old
Milan Loncar, 25 yrs old
James O’connor, 46 yrs old
Marilyn Zellars, 54 yrs old
Jose Peralta, 55 yrs old
Zamar Jones, 7 yrs old
Gladys Coriano, 52 yrs old
Ishan Charmidah Rahman,39 yrs old was pregnant – baby died as well
All murdered by criminals DIRECTLY let out of jail by Krasner. Court documented public info. Facts are facts. Google each name