Philadelphia DA Faces Impeachment 

Up against a GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, moved closer to his potential impeachment this week following a vote in the GOP-controlled State House Judiciary Committee.

On Tuesday, the committee voted along party lines to approve the articles of impeachment as Republican lawmakers blamed Krasner for how he handled the city’s gun and violence crises Ellie Rushing, Chris Palmer, and Anna Orso report for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The impeachment effort will now move before the full House, where Republicans also hold a majority. The vote is expected as early as Wednesday. The next step would be a trial before the GOP-controlled senate, requiring two-thirds of senators to vote to oust him. 

The move is not popular among Democrats. 

“This is a shameful attempt to undermine the will of Philadelphia’s Black and Brown voters to reform the city’s criminal legal system,” said Sakira Cook, Co-Interim Vice-President of Color of Change, in a statement sent to the Crime Report. 

“District Attorney Larry Krasner was re-elected just a year ago by a wide majority of residents, despite the Fraternal Order of Police and right-wing extremists waging a campaign of disinformation. His removal from office would have a tremendously negative impact on the progress that has been made in the city.” 

The vote comes as Democrats near winning the majority of the House for the first time in 12 years. Krasner, first elected in 2017, neatly won reelection last year and says the impeachment move is strictly political. 

In a public statement released last month through the District Attorney’s office regarding the campaign to have him impeached, Krasner restated his commitment to public safety and defended his criminal justice policies and reform policies on the whole: 

“Criminologists know what works to prevent crime. It is not love for the NRA, opposition to reasonable gun regulations, or draconian sentences,” Krasner wrote, “It is investment in communities, fully funded public schools, mental health and addiction treatment resources, economic opportunity, trade school and higher education opportunity, keeping parents in the community (not in jail) when they have committed non-violent, non-serious offenses, and modern police reform, among other things.” 

The full House vote is expected this week.

“Krasner has fought for Black people, reduced racial disparities in incarceration, promoted pretrial reform, and held police accountable for their misconduct,” Cook said on behalf of the Color of Change.