Suburban Philadelphia legislators and law enforcement officials lambasted the city’s crime policies, blaming District Attorney Larry Krasner for not prosecuting criminals.
“My district has seen an increase in crime in our area — a majority of which is not even committed by Bensalem residents but by individuals crossing over the border from Philadelphia,” Rep. Kathleen C. Tomlinson, R-Bensalem, said during a House GOP Policy Committee hearing on crime.
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Leftist attorney Matt Dugan won the Democratic primary for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania district attorney Tuesday night, rejecting six-term incumbent Steve Zappala.
With 97.8 percent of precincts reporting, Dugan, the county’s head public defender, received over 93,000 votes to Zappala’s 74,000. This doesn’t mean the latter can be counted out just yet; if GOP write-in votes — which are still being tallied — number 500 or more for him, he can run against Dugan in the general election this fall.
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In Delaware County on Monday, law-enforcement experts asked Pennsylvania GOP state lawmakers to consider a variety of responses to the state’s crime epidemic… and to one left-wing official’s lack of urgency about it.
Speakers suggested various ideas like increased resources for detention facilities and youth courts. Over the course of the hearing, numerous testifiers complained that the leniency of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) remains a major hindrance to public safety in the City of Brotherly Love and nearby communities.
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Pennsylvania’s GOP-run state Senate this week passed legislation banning supervised injection sites, sending the bill to the state House.
Such locations — also called “safe injection sites,” “safe consumption spaces” or “overdose prevention sites” — permit addicts to take illicit substances, mainly opioids, without fear of prosecution. Advocates of the injection centers say they are an important means of avoiding overdoses and drug-related disease transmission. The nonprofit Safehouse has been working to open such a location in Philadelphia.
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Pennsylvania’s Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday passed legislation banning supervised injection sites anywhere in the Keystone State.
Under the bill sponsored by Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), no locality in Pennsylvania could permit the operation of a center wherein people could take illegal substances without risking prosecution. Such locations which are also called “safe injection sites,” “safe consumption spaces” or “overdose prevention sites” aim to avert opioid overdoses and drug-related disease transmission. Opponents like Tartaglione say the sites more effectively worsen opioid addiction and the carnage it creates.
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Rallying for hate-crimes legislation on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday, state Representative Napoleon Nelson (D-Glenside) rebuked founding father Benjamin Franklin.
The representative observed that a Franklin quote etched into a wall 40 feet from him read, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
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Pennsylvania’s House Appropriations Committee members signaled general agreement with Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget-increase goals for Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) on Monday, though some related issues remain contentious.
Representatives questioned PSP Commissioner Christopher Paris, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Operations George Bivens and other lead staffers at the agency in preparation for the budget process which lawmakers aim to wrap up by June 30.
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After a state court ruled that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s time in office did not constitute misbehavior, the Pennsylvania Senate has voted for an indefinite delay of his impeachment trial.
State senators voted 28-20 on Monday to delay impeachment indefinitely while readopting the rules of impeachment.
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As the holiday weekend nears, Pennsylvania state senators are viewing initial written arguments from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) contesting his impeachment.
The then-GOP-controlled state House of Representatives voted last month 107-85 to try the radical prosecutor in the Senate to consider his removal from office. Senate leaders then issued a writ of summons to Krasner outlining seven counts against him. Articles of impeachment concern alleged “dereliction of duty and refusal to enforce the law,” obstruction of a legislative investigation against him, improper conduct in two criminal trials, failure to admit conflict of interest, failure to heed victims’ rights and refusal to prosecute certain crimes.
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Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives responsible for conducting Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s impeachment are arguing Krasner can’t resort to the courts to avoid the state Senate trial.
Earlier this month, the far-left prosecutor asked the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court to preempt the proceedings initiated by Republican lawmakers in November. He cited three reasons: First, a new General Assembly has taken office; second, he contends that the state Constitution doesn’t authorize a city district attorney’s impeachment; and third, he disputes that “misbehavior in office” is seriously alleged.
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Pennsylvania Representative Tim Bonner (R-Grove City) will serve as lead manager of the Senate impeachment trial of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) over the next few weeks.
State House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Quarryville) appointed Bonner to head the three-person team of House managers on Friday. Representatives Craig Williams (R-Chadds Ford) and Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) will round out the group. (State law requires at least one impeachment manager to come from the House minority party.)
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Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) by a vote of 107 to 85.
All Democrats in attendance opposed the resolution introduced by Representative Martina White (R-Philadelphia). All present Republicans supported it except for Representative Mike Puskaric (R-Jefferson Hills) who is retiring at the end of the term.
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Pennsylvania state representatives expect to vote Wednesday on whether to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D); a legislative panel voted to move the idea forward on Tuesday.
All 14 attending members of the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee supported advancing an impeachment bill sponsored by Representative Martina White (R-Philadelphia). All eight Democrats present for the vote opposed the legislation.
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Republicans in the Pennsylvania House have introduced articles of impeachment against Philadelphia’s district attorney Larry Krasner.
The lawmakers introduced the measure Wednesday to impeach Kranser and said they might add days to the legislative session to complete the effort before the two-year legislative term expires next month, according to local TV station ABC6 News.
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Republicans in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives are taking steps towards impeaching Larry Krasner, the far-left District Attorney of Philadelphia, due to his record of soft-on-crime policies that have made the city more dangerous.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, a group of Republicans in the lower house, led by State Representative Martina White (R-Penn.), filed articles of impeachment against Krasner on Wednesday. This comes after a bipartisan majority of the State House gave the House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order the authority to investigate the causes of the rising crime wave in Philadelphia, and to propose solutions for solving the crisis.
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Homicides in Philadelphia have been stubbornly high compared to just a few years ago, and elected officials have started to look for answers in other cities.
While some crime has risen in a number of cities in recent years, few cities have seen a worse rise in murder than Philadelphia. A recent WalletHub comparison of per capita murder rates since 2020 found that Philadelphia ranked seventh of the 50 largest cities in America.
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Pennsylvania’s House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order heard from mothers of recent Philadelphia murder victims on Thursday morning to gather perspective on District Attorney Larry Krasner’s (D) job performance.
In a video-recorded interview, Jennifer Meleski, the mother of 24-year-old Chuckie Maude who was murdered in the city’s Kensington neighborhood in 2021, shared her frustration with the city for creating an atmosphere in which gun violence abounds. She blamed Krasner for hamstringing police by pressing charges against officers who “stop and frisk” people on suspicion they are illegally carrying weapons.
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Democrats’ virtual 180 on the issue of crime — a journey from supporting the “defund the police” movement to espousing tougher law enforcement — has been accentuated by a striking pattern in recent months: prominent liberals being mugged, sometimes quite literally, by the harsh reality of rising crime as victims themselves.
The latest liberal to embody this shift is Bill Walton, the 69-year-old basketball legend-turned-garrulous broadcaster, who has a history of stirring controversy and advocating a range of progressive causes over the years.
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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 162 to 38 on Tuesday to hold Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) in contempt for failing to comply with a committee subpoena.
The vote came just hours after Pennsylvania’s House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order voted to recommend holding Krasner in contempt. Panel members have asked the prosecutor’s office to provide them with various documents including grand-jury records concerning the upcoming homicide trial of former police officer Ryan Pownall who shot and killed 30-year-old illegal-firearm carrier David Jones during a foot chase in 2018. Krasner balked at the committee’s request and is suing in Commonwealth Court to nullify it.
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Pennsylvania Republican legislators seeking solutions to the crime and violence in Philadelphia that have spilt into other communities across the Keystone State denounced city District Attorney Larry Krasner this weekend for suing to escape their oversight.
GOP General Assembly members, who allege Krasner has demonstrated a “willful refusal to enforce Pennsylvania’s criminal laws,” have made clear they want to impeach the far-left prosecutor and introduced a resolution to that effect months ago. They however almost certainly lack the two-thirds of Senate votes to do so.
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Two state legislators with districts just northeast of violence-plagued Philadelphia announced this week they plan to introduce legislation mandating prison time for anyone convicted of keeping a firearm illegally in the Keystone State.
Representatives Frank Farry (R-Langhorne) and Kathleen “K.C.” Tomlinson (R-Bensalem) propose sentences of under two years for a first breach of gun-possession restrictions. Recidivists, however, would incur longer terms.
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A national trend of criticism aimed at district attorneys in major cities has sparked a feud in Philadelphia between the DA and state Republicans.
In August, a House committee investigating Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a subpoena to his office. Krasner told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he will not comply and called the investigation “illegal” and “anti-democratic.”
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Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to Pittsburgh this weekend to argue that his success governing Florida needs to be replicated in Pennsylvania and that state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-PA-Gettysburg) is the man to do it.
The Adams County lawmaker is running against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, someone who Mastriano and DeSantis believe will intensify the liberal governance the Keystone State has underwent during Tom Wolf’s eight-year administration.
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The Pennsylvania State House has created a bipartisan committee to investigate a crime spree in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city.
Part of the effort includes allowing the committee to subpoena witnesses and documents from the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a frontline figure in the national progressive prosecutor movement, according to the Epoch Times.
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Jim Kenney wishes he wasn’t Philadelphia’s mayor. City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and Councilman Derek Green — like Kenny, both Democrats — now wish the same.
Kenney drew their reproaches after confessing to reporters on Monday, July 4, that city violence has made his job a displeasure that he looks forward to concluding.
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Philadelphia is in a crime crisis, and District Attorney Larry Krasner has been willfully derelict in doing anything to stop it. Since he will not stand up for the people of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by enforcing the laws to keep people safe, we will.
Thomas Paine once wrote: “That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” Krasner has created an environment where breaking the law is easily gotten away with, and where Philadelphia criminals need not fear the tough-on-crime laws already on the books.
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Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday circulated a memorandum seeking cosponsors for articles of impeachment for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D).
Reps. Josh Kail (R-Monaca), Torren Ecker (R-Abbottstown) and Tim O’Neal (R-Washington) wrote in their message to House colleagues that impeachment is a severe option that they would only initiate in the face of a prosecutor’s clear “dereliction of duty.” They charged Krasner with a “willful refusal to enforce Pennsylvania’s criminal laws” in Philadelphia.
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Gun violence erupted in one of Philadelphia’s most celebrated neighborhoods for nightlife on Saturday night, just a day after nine separate shootings in the City of Brotherly Love reportedly injured at least eight people and killed a pregnant woman.
Three are dead and 11 injured in multiple shootings on South Street around 11:30 pm despite a heavy police presence on the perfect weather evening, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The dead were identified as Kristopher Minners, 22; Alexis Quinn, 27; and Gregory “Japan” Jackson, 34.
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Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted 151-49 Wednesday for legislation allowing state prosecutors to handle some of Philadelphia’s gun-related cases.
The bill would renew the state attorney general’s “concurrent jurisdiction” with the Philadelphia district attorney, letting the commonwealth shoulder part of the effort to prosecute firearm-related offenses in a city where many feel the job isn’t getting done.
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On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee approved term limits for the Philadelphia District Attorney as well as a bill allowing state prosecutors to pursue Philadelphia gun violations.
Both measures have the secondary effect of rebuking the performance of the city’s top prosecutor, Larry Krasner (D), under whose watch violence and crime have skyrocketed. In 2017, 315 murders occurred in Philadelphia and the number rose to an all-time high of 562 last year. Many attribute the increase in crime to Krasner’s tendency to release many defendants charged with illegal gun possession and violent offenses.
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Pennsylvania state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) said this week that there is bipartisan support in the state House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D).
Corman, who’s running for governor, sent a letter to the Republican-led state House on Tuesday, urging them to begin impeachment proceedings against Krasner, citing the prosecutor’s “refusal” to “hold criminals accountable for the crimes that they commit.”
Krasner was elected in 2017 with the help of $1.7 million from the George Soros-backed Philadelphia Justice and Public Safety PAC.
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Outrage at Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s (D) leniency toward criminals has driven Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) to call for the prosecutor’s impeachment.
Corman sent a letter to leaders of the GOP-run state House of Representatives asking them to seek Krasner’s removal. In his missive, the lawmaker deplored the city’s sharp present rise in violent crime and said the district attorney has played a major role in that spike by allowing many offenders to escape punishment.
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With homicides in Philadelphia, PA reaching a new record high this year, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has renewed his call for gun control, leaving progressive law-enforcement officials like Philadelphia’s infamously lenient District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) unmentioned.
As of Dec. 29, 557 murders took place in Philadelphia in 2021, a 10.4-percent increase over the 499 murders that occurred during 2020—a year that itself saw 143 more murders than the previous year. (Homicides in Philadelphia have not numbered as many as 500 since 1990.) Gun robberies, vehicle theft and retail theft have all risen significantly.
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