You know it’s bad when even Democrats think an official isn’t tough enough on crime. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the state Attorney General’s Office must now review and possibly intervene in cases where Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office seeks to overturn murder convictions.
The 4-3 decision requires judges to notify the attorney general before ruling on any concession of relief by Krasner’s office under the Post Conviction Relief Act.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Kevin Dougherty, imposed this layer of oversight only for Philadelphia county. The court said Krasner’s office showed an ongoing pattern of unreliable concessions that demanded extra scrutiny.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court stops Larry Krasner in his tracks!
— John Allante McAuley (@AllanteMcAuley) June 18, 2026
I discuss the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court’s 6-1 ruling against District Attorney Larry Krasner’s concessions of 110 murder convictions in Philadelphia. I highlight the court’s scathing 109-page report, the case… pic.twitter.com/EocqafUpf1
The ruling does not prevent Krasner from seeking relief in cases in which someone was actually wrongly convicted, but mandates an independent review when his office concedes error in serious cases such as murder convictions.
The decision grew out of the case of Lavar Brown, who received a life sentence without parole after he was convicted in 2004 for second degree murder in the 2003 robbery and shooting of a Rite Aid manager. He was later sentenced to death for a separate 2005 murder.
Krasner’s office admitted that Brown deserved a new trial on the first conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct and withheld evidence. The victim’s family members petitioned the state Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that Krasner’s concession was not backed by evidence.
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The court slammed Krasner’s office over its handling of the Brown case and others. Dougherty said Krasner “conceded relief although none was warranted based on the existing record, violated its duty of candor to the PCRA court, withheld material evidence from the court, opposed efforts by amici to gain access to this evidence, submitted a false stipulation of fact, misstated facts in its pleadings, failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, and opposed a required evidentiary hearing.”
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orders Review of DA Krasner’s Prisoner Release Decisions
— John Allante McAuley (@AllanteMcAuley) June 18, 2026
Lynn discusses the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to have Attorney General David Sunday review District Attorney Larry Krasner’s future attempts to release prisoners from jail. The court… pic.twitter.com/DTWLJwiRdk
He further noted “numerous instances of untrustworthy concessions, lack of candor, misrepresentations of fact, lack of adequate investigation, and avoidance of hearings.”
The judge continued, saying, “Again and again, the DAO has made unreliable concessions unsupported by the facts and law.”
Since 2018, Krasner’s office has conceded relief in at least 120 cases, many involving murder convictions.
Krasner wasn’t happy about the ruling. In a video statement, he said, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a close decision … decided that when this office supports the defense’s position that someone deserves a new trial or they deserve to get out of custody, that we need to have the Attorney General’s Office looking over our shoulder.”
He then compared the pushback to historic social justice movements. “First they ignore you — we’re past it. Then they laugh at you — we’re past that. Then they fight you — and we have been fighting for 8½ years,” Krasner stated.
I’m all for empowering inmates who were falsely convicted of crimes. In fact, I’d like to see more of it. But given Krasner’s record, it seems more likely he’s more concerned with helping actual criminals than making sure innocent people aren’t spending their lives behind bars.
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