Larry Krasner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Larry Krasner
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| 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2018 |
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| Preceded by | Kelley B. Hodge (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lawrence Samuel Krasner
March 30, 1961 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lisa Rau |
| Education | University of Chicago (BA) Stanford University (JD) |
Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer. He is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. He was elected to this important job in 2017. Krasner was one of the first district attorney candidates in the U.S. to call himself a "progressive prosecutor." This means he wanted to make big changes. His campaign promised to improve the justice system. He also aimed to reduce the number of people in jail. During his time in office, he has looked into police misconduct. He has also pushed for police to be more responsible for their actions.
In 2022, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives tried to remove Krasner from office. This process is called impeachment. They accused him of not doing his job correctly. They also said he tried to stop their investigation. A trial was planned in the Pennsylvania Senate. However, it was put off for a long time. In September 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided the impeachment efforts were no longer valid.
Contents
Larry Krasner's Early Life and Education
Krasner was born in St. Louis in 1961. His father, William Krasner, wrote crime stories. His mother, Juanita Frazier, was a Christian minister.
Krasner finished Conestoga High School in 1979. He then went to the University of Chicago and graduated in 1983. Later, he earned his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1987.
After law school, Krasner returned to Philadelphia. He worked as a public defender, helping people who could not afford a lawyer. In 1993, he started his own law firm. For 30 years, he worked as a criminal defense lawyer. He focused on civil rights cases. He often helped protestors for free.
Becoming Philadelphia's District Attorney
Winning Elections
The 2017 Election
In February 2017, the district attorney at the time, R. Seth Williams, said he would not run again. He later resigned and faced serious accusations.
Larry Krasner decided to run for the job. He promised to change how things were done. He wanted to stop cash bail for some crimes. He also wanted to address police misconduct. His goal was to end mass incarceration, which means too many people in jail. A group supporting Krasner received a large donation from a billionaire named George Soros.
Krasner had represented groups like Black Lives Matter. This made many people see him as an "anti-establishment" candidate. He spoke out against policies that led to many minority males being jailed.
Krasner won the Democratic primary election on May 16, 2017. He received 38% of the votes. Voter turnout was much higher than in past elections. Since Philadelphia has many more Democrats than Republicans, winning the Democratic primary usually means winning the general election. Krasner won the November general election easily. He received almost three times as many votes as his Republican opponent.
The 2021 Election
In 2021, Krasner ran for re-election. He faced Carlos Vega in the Democratic primary. Vega had been fired by Krasner when Krasner started making changes in the office.
Before the 2021 election, the Philadelphia police union told its members to switch parties. They wanted to vote for Krasner's opponent. A group formed by retired police officers spent the most money in the campaign. Krasner's opponents said his policies caused an increase in violent crime. However, some experts said there was no proof of this.
Krasner won the election on May 18. He had strong support from African-American neighborhoods. He also had continued support from progressive activist groups.
Krasner's Time in Office
In his first week, Krasner fired 31 prosecutors. This was about 10% of the assistant district attorneys in Philadelphia.
He also told prosecutors to stop asking for cash bail for some crimes. These included certain minor offenses and nonviolent serious crimes. Krasner believed it was unfair to keep people in jail just because they could not pay bail.
In March 2018, Krasner's team started a "sentence review unit." This unit would look at old cases. They would try to get lighter sentences for people who had been punished too harshly. Krasner also told prosecutors to reduce sentence lengths in plea deals. He asked them to explain why expensive jail times were needed.
In June 2018, Krasner asked for a list of police officers. This list would include officers who had lied, used too much force, or violated civil rights. This was a new step to identify dishonest officers. It would also help check their future statements in court.
In 2019, Krasner tried to get the death penalty declared unconstitutional in Pennsylvania. He argued it was illegal because it went against the state's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. He pointed to high rates of overturned convictions. He also noted that more Black and Hispanic defendants received death sentences.
Krasner's policies have led to some changes by the state government. In 2019, a law was passed. It allowed the Pennsylvania Attorney General to also prosecute gun crimes in Philadelphia. This shared power with Krasner's office.
In July 2020, Krasner's office charged a Philadelphia SWAT officer. Video showed the officer pepper-spraying protestors during the George Floyd protests.
In September 2021, Krasner started a program for people charged with illegal gun possession. It was called the Alternative Felony Diversion program. In 2024, reports showed that this program led to a 76% drop in re-arrests.
Krasner was featured in a 2021 TV show called Philly D.A. The show won an award for telling a story about a leader and a movement.
By April 2022, Krasner's team had cleared 25 people. These people had been wrongly convicted under previous district attorneys.
In 2023, a new office was created, SEPTA. Its job is to prosecute crimes on Philadelphia's public transit system.
In October 2024, Krasner filed a lawsuit against a group called Elon Musk's America PAC. He said their $1 million giveaway was an illegal lottery.
2022 Impeachment Process
In June 2022, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to create a special committee. This committee would look into possibly removing Krasner from office. They wanted to investigate his handling of gun violence in Philadelphia. In August 2022, Krasner was asked to provide documents. He said his office would not cooperate. He believed the request was not proper. He then asked a court to stop the investigation. In September, the House voted to hold Krasner in contempt. This was because he did not give them the documents. After this vote, Krasner did provide some documents. However, some were already public.
On October 26, formal charges were filed against Krasner. They accused him of not doing his job well. They also said he tried to stop the committee's investigation. The House Judiciary Committee approved these charges. On November 16, the State House voted to impeach Krasner. He was the first person to be impeached by the Pennsylvania House since 1994.
On December 30, 2022, a judge ruled that Krasner's actions did not meet the state's requirements for impeachment. Because of this ruling, the Pennsylvania State Senate voted on January 11, 2023, to put off his impeachment trial. A day later, a higher court also agreed with the judge's decision.
On September 26, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania made a final decision. They ruled that the impeachment charges against Krasner were no longer valid. This was because the legislative session had ended.
Krasner's Memoir
Penguin Random House published Krasner's book, For the People: A Story of Justice and Power, in 2021.
Personal Life
Krasner is married to Lisa M. Rau. She is a retired judge from Philadelphia. Krasner and Rau have two sons, Nate and Caleb.
Images for kids
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This chart shows how many people were re-arrested after joining a special program for illegal gun possession. Fewer people in the program were re-arrested compared to those not in it.
