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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has spent years transforming the city's criminal justice system into a fascinating social experiment in which prosecutors are apparently expected to worry about everyone except themselves.
Now the experiment has entered an unexpected phase: Krasner is the subject of a federal criminal referral.
A federal judge has referred Krasner and one of his top deputies to the Justice Department following allegations arising from a 2009 murder case. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond issued a 40-page memorandum raising concerns about whether Krasner and Matthew Stiegler, chief of the Philadelphia DA's Conviction Integrity Unit, pressured prosecutors to present a false account of the case.
The allegations are tied to Dennis Johnson, who is seeking to overturn his 2009 murder conviction.
According to the judge's memorandum, hearings that began in May uncovered potential conflicts of interest and raised questions about how Krasner's office handled the case.
Judge Diamond described Krasner's conduct as "troubling" and suggested that he may have urged subordinates to "implement and present a false narrative to the court."
That's generally the sort of sentence a district attorney hopes to read about in somebody else's biography.
The judge also said Krasner and Stiegler were urged to refer the matter to the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, but Krasner refused, perhaps to cover his own butt.
The memorandum reportedly says Krasner warned there "would be consequences" if employees "alerted the court to the conflict issue."
So, according to the allegations, Philadelphia's progressive prosecutor may have developed a novel approach to criminal justice: aggressively pursue accountability for everyone else while encouraging employees to think very carefully about where they point the accountability spotlight.
Unfortunately for Krasner, the spotlight has apparently developed a mind of its own and it's pointing directly at him.
Krasner has built his national reputation as one of America's most prominent progressive prosecutors. His approach has included policies that critics say have made Philadelphia's crime problem worse, while Krasner and his supporters have defended his record as a necessary correction to traditional prosecution.
He has also spent considerable political energy opposing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts.
At one point, Krasner threatened to prosecute federal immigration officers operating in Philadelphia, sounding a lot like Zohran Mamdani.
Yes, the elected district attorney of Philadelphia was prepared to put federal immigration agents in his crosshairs for enforcing federal immigration law.
Now a federal judge has referred him to the Justice Department for investigation.
The plot practically writes itself.
Krasner's office has spent years reminding the public, tongue-in-cheek, that nobody is above the law.
Apparently, the law was listening.
Krasner isn't conceding anything. He responded:
"I respectfully and vigorously disagree with the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law. I look forward to appealing to the higher court as soon as the law allows. This remains a pending matter, which limits for now my and my office's ability to respond in the media."
Naturally, there is an important distinction here. Krasner has not been convicted of a crime. The judge's referral is not a criminal conviction, and the allegations involving Krasner and Stiegler remain allegations subject to investigation and further proceedings.
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Still, it must be an unusual experience for a progressive prosecutor to discover that the criminal justice system has a feature he apparently never installed in Philadelphia: a return address.
For years, Krasner has operated as though the primary purpose of the justice system was to investigate, prosecute and incarcerate the people his office deemed worthy of attention. Now Washington has apparently decided that Larry Krasner deserves some attention, too.
And somewhere in Philadelphia, a federal prosecutor is probably opening a file and discovering that the city's most famous prosecutor has finally been given the one assignment nobody in the DA's office wanted:
Explain yourself.
Sex! Now that I have your attention, please take time to check out the sponsors on this page--it's one way to support my work and you don't need to purchase anything just to look. Of course, you can Buy Me A Coffee at any amount if you want to support me directly. And finally, consider subscribing if you enjoy the blog--it's free, and worth the cost.
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