PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A longtime civil rights attorney who has sued the police department scores of times and opposes the death penalty has been elected Philadelphia’s top prosecutor.
Democrat Larry Krasner’s campaign highlighted inequities in the criminal justice system. The campaign, opposed by the police union, got a $1.5 million boost from billionaire donor George Soros.
The 56-year-old Krasner defeated Republican career prosecutor Beth Grossman, who says she switched parties several years ago because Democrats have a corrupt stranglehold on the city.
Democratic former District Attorney Seth Williams resigned in June after admitting taking a bribe and is serving five years in prison.
Krasner says police commissioners have long needed a district attorney who’ll back them when they try to fire a bad officer rather than always siding with the police union.
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