Larry Krasner

After graduation and passing the bar, Krasner returned to Philadelphia to work for the Federal Public Defender’s Office. In 1993, Krasner opened his own law firm.

On July 15, 2019, Krasner filed a motion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to declare the state’s death penalty unconstitutional. Krasner cited the high turnover rates of convictions by appeals; racial disparity in those sentenced, who are disproportionately black and Hispanic; and the frequent ineffective counsel that has contributed to numerous cases being overturned, as among reasons that capital punishment as practiced in Pennsylvania violates the state constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Following the fatal shooting of Philadelphia police officer James O'Connor IV, Krasner faced criticism from federal prosecutor William McSwain and Philadelphia police union president John McNesby. McSwain, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, blamed the shooting on a prosecutorial discretion decision by Krasner's office to drop drug charges against the suspect in the killing, Hassan Elliott. While on probation for a gun possession charge, Elliott was arrested again on January 29, 2019, for cocaine possession and was released on his own recognizance. Nearly a week later on February 6, Elliott took part in the fatal shooting of Tyrone Tyree after a court date. The district attorney's office approved an arrest warrant for Elliott for the murder of Tyree on March 26 and dropped the cocaine charges the next day after Elliott failed to appear in court. On March 13, 2020, as part of a SWAT unit carrying out an arrest warrant, O'Connor was fatally shot, and Elliott would be charged with the shooting. Julie Roh, spokesperson for the district attorney's office, defended the decision to drop the drug charges against Elliott based on the homicide warrant being more serious. On the night of O'Connor's killing, members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the Philadelphia police union, formed a human chain at the Temple University Hospital entrance to prevent Krasner from entering.

In February 2018, Krasner announced that law enforcement would no longer pursue criminal charges against those caught with marijuana possession. That same month, Krasner instructed prosecutors to stop seeking cash bail for those accused of some misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Krasner said that it was unfair to keep people in detention simply because they could not afford bail. He also announced that the DA's office had filed a lawsuit against a number of pharmaceutical companies for their role in the city's opioid epidemic. Krasner instructed prosecutors to stop charging sex workers who had fewer than three crime convictions.

In March 2018, it was reported that Krasner's staffers were working on creating a sentence review unit–the first of its kind in the country–to review past cases and sentences, and seek re-sentencing in cases when individuals were given unduly harsh punishments.

Also in March 2018, it was reported that Krasner instructed prosecutors to: "Offer shorter prison sentences in plea deals. Decline certain classes of criminal charges. And explain, on the record, why taxpayers should fork over thousands of dollars per year to incarcerate people." He said,

In April 2018, it was reported that some judges had rejected the reduced sentences which Krasner's prosecutors had sought for juveniles who had previously been sentenced to life in prison.

In June 2018, it was reported that Krasner had requested a comprehensive list of police officers who had lied while on duty, used excessive force, racially profiled, or violated civil rights. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "The exercise, unprecedented in scope in recent city history, is designed to help prosecutors flag officers with credibility issues early in a case and possibly prevent their testimony".

His representation for members of movements like Black Lives Matter and Occupy Philadelphia led many to call him an "anti-establishment" candidate during his 2017 primary campaign for the Democratic nomination. He ran against existing policies that had resulted in disproportionately high numbers of minority males being jailed and proposed other reforms in criminal justice.

Krasner was a featured speaker at the 2017 People's Summit.

Sitting Philadelphia D.A. R. Seth Williams announced that he would not run for reelection in February 2017. He pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in June 2017, resigning from office. (The acting D.A., Kathleen Martin, chose not to run.)

Krasner won a crowded, seven-way Democratic primary by more than 17% on May 16, 2017, defeating former city and federal prosecutor Joe Khan (who placed second); former Philadelphia Managing Director Rich Negrin; former First Assistant District Attorney Tariq El-Shabazz; former prosecutor Michael Untermeyer; former prosecutor Jack O'Neill; and former Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni. City officials reported that voter turnout in this race spiked nearly 50 percent, compared to 2009, which was the last contested race for district attorney of Philadelphia. The primary was widely seen as the proxy election, as the winner of the primary was the presumptive victor of the general: registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans in Philadelphia by almost 7-to-1.

Krasner attended the University of Chicago, graduating in 1983. He attended Stanford Law School, graduating in 1987.

Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer serving as the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Krasner was elected to the position in 2017 on a platform to reform elements of the criminal justice system, including to reduce incarceration, and took office in January 2018.

Lawrence Krasner was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1961. His father, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, wrote crime fiction, and his mother was an evangelical Christian minister. His family moved to the Philadelphia area while he was still attending public school. He graduated from Conestoga High School in 1979.