Into the Philadelphia D.A.’s Office

07/15/20 • 17 min

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In 2017, Larry Krasner, a public defender and civil rights lawyer who had sued the Philadelphia police department multiple times during his career, made an unusual decision. He decided to run for Philadelphia District Attorney, the city’s top prosecutor. His goal was to reform that system from the inside. Krasner was part of a national wave of progressive prosecutors responding to calls for police reform.

Since taking office, Krasner has made efforts to stop the cycle of mass incarceration for low-level crimes while contending with a powerful police union and judges resistant to change. But Krasner says the city is still in the shadow of Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia’s former Police Commissioner and Mayor who was notorious for being “tough on crime.”

Now Philadelphia, along with several other major U.S. cities, is facing a spike in shootings and homicides, as well as a growing opioid crisis, on top of the pandemic. Some Philadelphians say Krasner should be doing more to keep the streets safe, others say his office is not doing enough to change the system. Trymaine Lee talks to District Attorney Larry Krasner about whether his reform agenda can survive.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading and Listening:

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading and Listening:

Previous Episode

Into Jamaal Bowman’s Insurgent Run

The votes are still being tallied, but progressive Democrat and political newcomer Jamaal Bowman is poised to beat out sixteen-term Congressman Eliot Engel in the primary race to represent New York’s 16th Congressional district. The district is the second most unequal in the state; it’s majority Black and Hispanic, but also stretches into some very wealthy, mostly white neighborhoods.

Eliot Engel is white, in his 70s, and chair of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee. And Bowman - who is Black, in his 40s, and a former middle school principal - is part of a new wave of candidates taking on the establishment of the Democratic party. Bowman’s gotten the backing of progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, and the Working Families Party, which recently teamed up with the Movement for Black Lives to form a Political Action Committee.

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Jamaal Bowman about why he decided to enter politics and take on one of the most entrenched Democrats in Congress.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

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Next Episode

Into Please Stop Talking to Me About Race

When it comes to race relations, 2020 has caught a lot of us off guard. When protests broke out in response to the killing of Geroge Floyd, we saw diverse crowds out in the streets. More and more white people began asking what they could do to uproot the racism that plagues America. These conversations on race are crucial. But as writer Damon Young points out, they can also be really strange.

Damon Young is Black, a senior editor at The Root, and founder of the blog Very Smart Brothas. He’s also the author of “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker.” Young noticed an uncomfortable pattern: more and more white people want to start conversations about race. He says there’s a time and a place to talk about things like police violence, lynching, and slavery. That time is not while he’s taking a walk around his neighborhood or standing in line for ice cream.

Young wrote about his experience in a New York Times op-ed entitled, “Yeah, Let’s Not Talk About Race––Unless you pay me.” On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee talks with Young about how he finds humor in these moments and how it shapes his work as a Black writer.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading and Listening: