Larry Krasner

Larry Krasner
26th District Attorney of Philadelphia
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2018
Preceded byKelley B. Hodge (Acting)
Personal details
Born
Lawrence Samuel Krasner

(1961-03-30) March 30, 1961 (age 63)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLisa Rau
EducationUniversity of Chicago (BA)
Stanford University (JD)

Lawrence Samuel Krasner[1] (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia.[2] Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first in the United States to run as a self-described "progressive prosecutor".[3] He campaigned on a platform to reform elements of the criminal justice system, including reduced incarceration.

During his tenure as DA, Krasner has sought to spearhead criminal justice reform. His policies include ending criminal charges against those caught with marijuana possession, ending cash bail for those accused of some misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, reducing supervision for parolees, and seeking more lenient sentences for certain crimes.[4] During his time in office, he has advocated for greater police accountability and pursued police misconduct.[5] Penguin Random House published Krasner's memoir, For the People: A Story of Justice and Power, in 2021.[6]

In 2022, Krasner was impeached by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on multiple counts; several were for various alleged "dereliction[s] of duty" and "misbehavior[s] in office", and another was for attempting to obstruct the legislative probe that sought to impeach him.[7] An impeachment trial was scheduled to take place in the Pennsylvania Senate, but was indefinitely postponed. The following day, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania opined that none of the alleged derelictions or misbehaviors were impeachable offenses.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "SESSION OF 2022 206TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY No. 53" (PDF). Legislative Journal - House. Pennsylvania General Assembly. November 30, 2022. p. 7. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Larry Krasner's Campaign to End Mass Incarceration". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  3. ^ Cohen, Rachel M. (October 5, 2022). "Philadelphia elected a progressive prosecutor twice. The state government wants to fire him anyway". Vox. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Melamed, Samantha (March 21, 2019). "Philly DA Larry Krasner: We took on mass incarceration. Now we're addressing mass supervision". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Feuer, Alan (June 17, 2017). "He Sued Police 75 Times. Democrats Want Him as Philadelphia's Top Prosecutor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  6. ^ Krasner, Larry (April 20, 2021). For the People: A Story of Justice and Power. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-593-13292-0.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference seven was invoked but never defined (see the help page).