Category: Criminal Justice

A decision by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to impeach Larry Krasner is wrong on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to begin. But perhaps it’s best to start with basic principles. Impeachment in US or Pennsylvania constitutional law was never thought of as a means to pursue policy goals. It is not meant to be a way for the majority of the legislature to replace officials who follow policies they do not favor. It was designed to enable the General Assembly to protect the separation of power against officials who overstep its bounds or to remove officials who are corrupt. The General Assembly’s disagreement with Larry Krasner is over his policies. There are ways to influence those policies short of impeachment. Legislators can revise state laws that give the DA discretion in certain areas. They can give, and have given, concurrent authority to other prosecutors in… Continue reading

First published in NewsWorks December 8, 2014 Even if I were not a political scientist who understood both the importance of what police officers do every day and the dangers they face in their job, I would have a very personal reason for appreciating their work. Years ago, police officers put their bodies on the line to protect my father, when he was a justice of the peace in upstate New York. So like most Americans, I’m not inclined to criticize police officers who use force to protect themselves and others. At the same time, the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner remind us that sometimes police officers use deadly force in questionable circumstances. And there is dramatic statistical evidence that institutional racism plays a role in who is killed by the police — black men die at disproportionate rates. But very rarely are police officers held… Continue reading

Whenever crime becomes a major issue—as it has in Philadelphia right now—we progressives offer up a set of answers to the crime problem. Most of our answers focus on what we call the “root causes” of crime. We talk about the economic distress in neighborhoods that leaves too many people without decent jobs. We talk about the problems in families that leaves too many children without the supervision, and in some case, the love, they need to grow up right. We talk about the inadequate education that leaves too many of our young people without the skills they need to make it in the contemporary economy. We talk about the lack of after school programs, recreation programs, and mentoring programs to help the many young people who are at-risk for turning to crime. Everyone one of those ideas is right. Without economic growth that includes everyone, without decent schools that… Continue reading