Commonwealth Court sides with Philly DA Larry Krasner in impeachment lawsuit

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court on Friday said none of the articles of impeachment filed against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner by the Republican-led legislature meet the required legal standard of “misbehavior in office” — handing Krasner an apparent victory in the legislative effort to remove him.

In an order filed Friday afternoon, Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler said the seven articles filed against Krasner, which were approved by the House last month, did not sufficiently show that he’d failed to perform his duties with an improper or corrupt motive, which is required under the state constitution to impeach a public official.

The practical implications of the ruling were not immediately clear. The court did not explicitly state that the ongoing impeachment proceedings must stop. And in the state Senate, where Krasner was scheduled to face an impeachment trial beginning Jan. 18, members and attorneys on Friday were attempting to sort out what impact the ruling might have on the process — or if they would appeal.

“We are reviewing the order and will provide an appropriate response once we have had time to evaluate,” said Erica Clayton Wright, spokesperson for Senate Republicans.

Ceisler said in her order that an opinion would be released later, though she did not specify a timeline.

Jane Roh, spokesperson for Krasner’s office, declined to comment.

The decision was the latest wrinkle in the unprecedented and unpredictable impeachment drive in Harrisburg. Republicans have accused the city’s reform-oriented district attorney, a Democrat, of enacting policies that have fueled the city’s shooting crisis, among other issues. The GOP-controlled state House approved the seven articles of impeachment against him last month, sending the case to the state Senate for a trial.

Krasner has consistently denied the allegations and said the case against him should be dismissed.

He filed suit in Commonwealth Court and submitted a petition earlier this month asking judges to declare the proceedings unlawful. Beyond arguing that legislators had found no evidence of the “misbehavior in office” required for impeachment, his lawyers said the legislature lacks the authority to oust local officials, and were improperly stretching impeachment proceedings over two different legislative sessions.

In the order Friday, the court rejected the latter two arguments from Krasner, saying impeachment proceedings could occur across different legislative sessions, and that the legislature could impeach the city’s district attorney.

But in siding with Krasner on the merits of the charges against him, the court appeared to take issue with the case’s most substantive question.

Ceisler had raised concern about the issue during a hearing on Thursday, saying she believed the question of whether the legislature had moved forward on allegations that met the legal standard was “the most troublesome aspect of this entire case.”

“It seems to me that these impeachment proceedings are based on disagreements with public policy and an elected officials’ discretion,” she said. “And I think that this proceeding could set terrible precedent in the future.”

It was not clear Friday if the Senate intended to move forward with its scheduled trial of Krasner next month.