Philadelphia's Progressive DA Faces a Primary Test Amid Crime Surge
Mr. Krasner is one of a wave of progressive prosecutors elected in recent years who ran on a platform of reducing prosecutions for low-level crimes, changing bail conditions and not seeking the death penalty. How he fares will be an early gauge of their support, as cities nationwide grapple with an increase in murders and shootings.
One of Mr. Krasner’s early moves as DA was to fire more than 30 prosecutors, including Mr. Vega, who joined the office in 1982 and went on to become the state’s first Latino homicide prosecutor. Mr. Vega, 64 years old, filed an age-discrimination lawsuit that is pending in federal court. Mr. Krasner denies Mr. Vega’s claim.
Mr. Krasner, 60, says he has kept key campaign promises by not seeking the death penalty, not prosecuting most simple drug-possession cases and moving away from cash bail for minor crimes. He also notes that the DA’s office has exonerated 20 people convicted of crimes.
He talks up the fact that he has brought criminal charges against dozens of police officers, but also says he works closely with the Police Department.
The rising murder toll poses a political liability for Mr. Krasner, said Caren Morrison, associate professor of law at Georgia State University, who has researched prosecutor races across the U.S. Philadelphia had 499 homicides last year, the second-highest total on record, and this year has recorded 191 killings through Wednesday, a 39% increase from the same point in 2020, police figures show.
“Does that send everybody running back to the law-and-order candidate, which is how Vega is presenting himself?” Ms. Morrison said. “Or can they separate out Krasner’s progressive policies with whatever it is that is causing homicide rates across the country to go up?”
The Krasner campaign said his office had an 85% conviction rate in shooting cases in the first quarter of 2020, before the pandemic took hold.
Mr. Vega says that figure is based on a “very convenient” time period and that his analysis shows a more recent 32% conviction rate for a range of crimes, including gun possession. “Mr. Krasner, you have blood on your hands,” Mr. Vega said at a recent debate.
Mr. Krasner says shootings and killings have risen in many U.S. cities during the coronavirus pandemic, which caused social upheaval, disrupted police work and largely shut down courts. The election is “really a choice between the past and the future,” Mr. Krasner said in an interview. “And this is a city with a very troubling past when it comes to prosecution, and when it comes to policing.”
Mr. Vega says he will aggressively prosecute violent crime, implement focused deterrence programs aimed at people deemed likely to commit serious offenses, and pay more attention to victims. He also says he will hold police accountable and work harder to divert arrestees from the criminal justice system.
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