I want to give a heads up to all Philadelphia residents and urge them to pay close attention to the upcoming race for the Philadelphia District Attorney and to do their independent research on who is the best candidate for this position which holds so much power over the lives of Philadelphians and any visitors to the city.
The office is currently held by DA Larry Krasner, whom is (in my opinion) arguably the first Philadelphia DA that strives to perform his duty of office in a manner which honors his obligations completely. Krasner has embraced his job to the letter, a District Attorney’s job isn’t to just lock people up, his job is to pursue justice. That means that he is obligated to use the law in a way that best serves the public he’s sworn to protect not only from everyday citizens turned to crime but to bring to justice public officials as well, even other law enforcement if they break the law which is not popular.
This he has done since taking office and has refused to go along with corruption and the norm, that has been for decades to throw away the lives of the most vulnerable citizens of Philadelphia, profit from it and turn a blind eye to the many systemic issues we face that prevents the city from reaching it’s full potential.
Since Krasner took office there’s been countless attacks to his character and questioning of his competence to serve as District Attorney by many but mainly and more overtly, by law enforcement officials through the media. They’ve created tons of smear campaigns and thrown out propaganda to the public all in an effort to sway Philadelphia’s citizens that Larry Krasner is not ‘tough on crime’, and I’ve even heard law enforcement officials on the news claim that Krasner was letting individuals with prior criminal records arrested with guns right back out on the streets to commit more crime. This is simply not true!
To those that aren’t aware, there are laws that prohibit repeat offenders from being arrested and released right back out after committing serious crimes like carrying unlicensed firearms, laws that even Larry Krasner can’t circumvent. Larry Krasner hasn’t decided to not prosecute defendants arrested for committing crimes, Krasner has prosecuted all that have broken the law in a way that has been fair and just, he has also pursued justice by exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals to an extent that has never been seen done by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
The problem that senior law enforcement officials have with Krasner is the fact that he will not be part of the long standing traditions of overcharging individuals in hopes of sentencing them to terms of imprisonment that serves no purpose to the community or rehabilitation of the defendant, of turning a blind eye on the fact that our criminal justice system disproportionately affects communities of color, and that Krasner holds everyone to the same standard when it comes to enforcing the law even law enforcement who traditionally views themselves above the very law that they’re tasked with enforcing.
For the last few years we’ve been hearing the words and phrases ‘reform’ and ‘prison reform’ so much that it’s become sort of a catch phrase or conversation piece and that’s because when scrutinized you’ll see that out of all of the public officials that use these words there’s very few that have acted on them.
Larry Krasner is one of those very few, he has taken the steps to bring about a just process in Philadelphia making plans and actually reforming previous practices. He hasn’t accomplished all that he wants to do and is capable of doing but he has the heart and integrity to continue until he has succeeded.
On the other hand we have Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega who is running against Krasner, Vega is one of many ADAs that Krasner let go when he took office cleaning up the corrupted mess that was the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office. Vega is a symbol of moving backwards, an undoing of all the progress that has been made.
I truly urge people to actually research the the candidates history in their official capacities and just listen to the non sense pushed through the media to discredit someone who is for all the people of Philadelphia not just some people. And I want everyone to know how important this race is, the District Attorney has huge power when it comes to court proceeding and the culture of criminal justice overall.
We should place just as much energy into this election as we would for Mayor, Gubernatorial or Presidential elections. I never thought as someone incarcerated that I would be vouching for a prosecutor but here I am, I believe in Krasner because I believe he’s for justice and not just throwing away lives. I was actually arrested and convicted in Delaware County so whoever holds Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office does not change anything for me other than seeing or not seeing justice done for others.
RIGHT TO REDEMPTION 