Krasner derides Trump’s order to end cashless bail as an ‘authoritarian power grab’
Krasner, who is running for his third term, has been criticized by advocates who don’t believe he’s gone far enough to reduce the use of cash bail in Philadelphia's system.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner criticized President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting cities or states that use cashless bail.
“It should come as no surprise that Trump, a wealthy 34-time convicted felon capable of posting bail for his freedom, is threatening to defund jurisdictions that use cashless systems,” Krasner said in a statement issued in response to Trump’s order Monday.
Krasner, who is currently running for a third term as district attorney, called the move “an authoritarian power grab” initiated by the “Criminal-in-Chief.”
Trump’s executive order is unlikely to apply to Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, which has a cash bail system that no local jurisdiction can change without broad changes to state laws. Krasner’s tenure here has exemplified the difficulties in reducing the use of cash bail — even for people like Krasner, who has been frequently critical of the practice.
While Krasner’s office implemented a policy in 2018 under which prosecutors would not ask for cash bail for a variety of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, ranging from drug possession to prostitution, the office still makes requests to hold defendants on cash bail on a near-daily basis, and Krasner has been criticized by advocates who don’t believe he has gone far enough to reduce the use of cash bail in the system.
Early Tuesday on CNN, Krasner continued his tirade against Trump, saying that the president “intends to try to carry out a coup” and is looking to “cancel elections down the road.”
Krasner added that Trump is saying there are crises in cities such as Philadelphia “so he can roll tanks” onto the streets.
“America needs to wake up,” Krasner concluded. “It is not time to appease. It’s time to fight.”
In his executive order, Trump said that people released without bail “are permitted — even encouraged — to further endanger law-abiding, hard-working Americans because they know our laws will not be enforced."
Trump said he is protecting Americans by requiring policies that incarcerate “individuals who are known threats.”
To enforce his order, Trump said, administration policy will preclude federal resources from flowing into jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.
Cashless bail allows people to be released from detention before trial without having to pay any money. It is normally reserved for people accused of nonviolent crimes.
Illinois has completely eliminated cash bail, while New Jersey, New York, and New Mexico have significantly limited its use.
A Brennan Center for Justice report last year showed that while both politicians and police leaders have blamed cashless bail for increases in violent crime, there is “no statistically significant relationship” between the two, after researchers compared 22 U.S. jurisdictions with bail reform policies to 11 without.
Krasner all but assured himself a third term in office by winning the May 25 Democratic primary. He will face former Municipal Court Judge Patrick Dugan, a Republican who left the Democratic Party after losing the primary, in the general election.
Staff writers Chris Palmer and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.