Larry Krasner, Anti-Trump Attorney, Wins Race For Philadelphia DA

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By Daniel J. Solomon May 17, 2017

Larry Krasner has spent three decades as an outsider, representing activists from the anti-AIDS and Black Lives Matter movements as a criminal defense lawyer.

He’s now poised to become the ultimate insider after winning a Democratic primary to be Philadelphia’s next district attorney.

“I always did this because I think trials should always be fair, and innocent people should not be convicted, and individuals’ civil rights should be preserved,” Krasner, the son of a Jewish father and evangelical minister mother, told the Intercept. “I don’t see a big distinction between doing that as a prosecutor and doing it as a defense attorney.”

Krasner claimed victory after besting his nearest competitor by 18%. In the overwhelmingly Democratic city, he is now almost assured of election.

He’s promised in his campaign to fight mass incarceration by working to end policies like stop-and-frisk searches, unaffordable bail and asset forfeiture. He’s also promised not to cooperate with the federal government under President Trump, which has stressed a return to “law and order” and sought to target undocumented immigrants.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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