The Pennsylvania legislature’s motivation to remove Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner over policy and dissatisfaction with his election has been circling the drain. Undeterred by the lack of appetite from colleagues, and with no hope of actually removing Krasner from office, GOP House impeachment manager Rep. Craig Williams is seeking an appeal of January's Commonwealth Court ruling that found the legislature’s effort to impeach Krasner to be on “insufficient grounds” and that it “fails to support an impeachable charge of misbehavior in office.” This is a separate question from whether the state legislature should even have the authority to remove duly elected local officials.
When the ruling was handed down in January, the GOP-controlled state Senate (which lacks the votes for removal regardless) voted to postpone the trial originally scheduled for the following week “indefinitely.” As of last fall, the cost to taxpayers has been $1 million and counting, not including the $25K the City of Philadelphia’s taxpayers have had to shoulder in defense.
Still, Rep. Williams continues to pursue prosecuting a zombie trial with his appeal to the state Supreme Court, where Democrats hold a majority. Statewide brand-building and “tough on crime” red meat for the conservative base in the lead-up to his run for attorney general are reason enough for Rep. Williams to reanimate the impeachment, or at least keep it on life support for the sake of building name recognition - all at taxpayer expense.
Holly Taylor
Concord Township
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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