HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House on Wednesday impeached Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, accusing him of “misbehavior in office” and advancing the extraordinary and rarely used process of trying to remove the city’s top prosecutor from office.
Although the move had been telegraphed for months by the Republican-led chamber, debate on the House floor was deeply divided and fiery before a 107-85 largely along party lines. The chamber hasn’t impeached an officeholder in nearly 30 years, and the Pennsylvania legislature has sought to remove someone from office only a handful of times over the past three centuries.
Republican lawmakers said the action was necessary because Krasner, a Democrat, has implemented criminal-justice reform policies that they say have exacerbated the city’s gun violence crisis. On Wednesday morning, they introduced an amended resolution outlining seven different alleged offenses. They include accusations that Krasner has fueled the city’s surge in murders and homicides, obstructed a legislative committee investigating his office, and mishandled specific criminal cases, including the now-dismissed murder prosecution of former Philadelphia police officer Ryan Pownall.
House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, speaking on the floor as the matter was being debated, criticized the performance of Krasner’s office, saying it was not legal for Krasner to enact policies seeking to decriminalize or deemphasize crimes like petty theft, drug possession and prostitution.
”We don’t get to ignore laws,” Cutler said. “If we want to change them, we should amend and legislate them differently, not allow one rogue county … to go off the rails and jeopardize the citizens who live there.”
Krasner has denied allegations that his policies are behind the city’s violence spike, saying the District Attorney’s Office diverts some low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system but is committed to prosecuting violence.
He’s also defended his office’s response to the legislative investigation. And he has cast the impeachment drive as an illegal stunt to target a political opponent over ideological disagreements. It comes even after a separate House committee tasked with investigating Krasner’s office is continuing its work and has not recommended impeachment.
Krasner’s Democratic counterparts in the Capitol have criticized Republicans for advancing the controversial measure in the final days of the legislative session, and with the GOP on the verge of losing its majority in the state House for the first time in more than a decade.
Malcom Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, said impeaching Krasner would set a dangerous precedent, and brought up initiatives that he said his Republican counterparts have rejected, including gun safety measures, and asked whether that also amounts to misbehavior in office.
““What is done here today has been called many names: a sham, a political stunt, a distraction and disgrace. But what I call it today, Mr. Speaker, is simply sad,” Kenyatta said, later adding: “This building has a lot of power. Why aren’t we using that power to actually fix what is broken?”
Impeachment requires a simple majority vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 23-seat majority. A trial would then take place in the Senate, and removal would require a two-thirds vote in the upper chamber.
Even as impeachment in the House appears imminent, many questions remain about how or when that Senate trial might take place. And the practical effects of impeachment for Krasner appear uncertain in the near-term. There are several steps remaining between Wednesday’s vote and the potential of Krasner’s being removed from office, and many of them are likely to be challenged in court.
Some legal experts have questioned whether the articles of impeachment contain actions or conduct that meet the legal standard for targeting Krasner at all. Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University professor of state and federal constitutional law, has said: “There is very little likelihood here that there’s a legally sufficient basis for impeachment and removal,” and he has noted that Pennsylvania courts have the power to take action if that standard is not met.
The articles of impeachment against Krasner were approved by House Judiciary Committee Tuesday in a 14-8 vote along party lines. The articles do not accuse Krasner of a crime but say he engaged in “misbehavior in office,” which the state constitution says can be a basis for impeachment.
The resolution to impeach Krasner was introduced by Rep. Martina White, a Northeast Philadelphia Republican who said Krasner’s office has “inappropriately” used prosecutorial discretion and failed to keep residents safe as shootings and homicides have soared.
House Majority Leader Kerry A. Benninghoff, R-Centre/Mifflin, and his GOP colleagues have also accused Krasner of seeking to obstruct a separate legislative probe of his office. Krasner has denied that, saying he appropriately challenged that investigation’s validity in Commonwealth Court.
And Krasner has vehemently defended his office’s record on crime.
He has also pointed out that gun crime has been on the rise nationally, including in some Pennsylvania jurisdictions with prosecutors who are Republicans, who are perceived as tough-on-crime, or both. And he has accused GOP lawmakers of improperly targeting him while failing to take action on proposed gun safety bills that some believe could help stem the flow of guns into Philadelphia.
If the House approves Krasner’s impeachment, it would be an exceptionally rare event. The last person to be removed was Rolf Larsen, a onetime state Supreme Court justice, who in 1994 was impeached and removed for making legal decisions based on improper conversations with a political supporter.
The vote comes at a time of deep uncertainty over the balance of power in the state House. The GOP’s majority nearly evaporated following a surprisingly strong Democratic performance in Tuesday’s midterm elections, but neither side has won a majority of seats. The vote counts in two suburban Philadelphia districts that have yet be called, where the contenders are just a handful of votes apart, could be settled Wednesday.
Benninghoff rejected criticism that Republicans were pursuing an impeachment drive during a lame-duck session.
“Right now, we’re in charge,” he said Tuesday, “and we’re going to do what we think is right.”
