Pa. lawmakers strip some authority from DA Larry Krasner with bill assigning special prosecutor for SEPTA crimes

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro stripped Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner of some of his prosecutorial authority this week — a victory for Republicans who have long sought to circumvent the progressive DA, and impeached him earlier this year in an ongoing attempt to oust him from office.

Shapiro, as part of a deal he negotiated with House and Senate leaders to finalize outstanding pieces of the state budget, signed a bill Thursday that requires the state Attorney General to assign a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute crimes that occur on SEPTA property in Philadelphia through 2026 — the duration of Krasner’s second term.

Still, significant parts of Senate Bill 140, including its enforceability and funding, remain unclear. One legal expert said while it is constitutional, there are significant logistical hurdles that would likely make it “a big waste of time.”

The bill gives the appointee full prosecutorial authority over any crimes committed on Philadelphia’s main transit system, and says the special prosecutor may use investigative resources and personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, or other law enforcement agencies.

While it does not wholly preclude Krasner from prosecuting SEPTA crimes, it gives the special prosecutor first priority; if the special prosecutor declines to take a case, it would go to Krasner’s office.

While Republicans have said the goal of the bill is to improve transit safety and ultimately ridership, Krasner, who was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term last year, called it “a backdoor assault on Philadelphia voters.”

“Like the impeachment effort, Act 40 is built on outright lies and falsehoods about Philadelphia, its voters, and public safety,” he said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Michelle Henry, who would be tasked with appointing the special prosecutor, said the office was in the process of reviewing the legislation “to fully understand the parameters of the jurisdictional complexities, what the office’s responsibilities will be under the law, and how the funding will occur.”

Here’s what we know:

According to the bill, the special prosecutor has full jurisdiction over crimes on “the primary provider” of public transit in Philadelphia, which is SEPTA.

The prosecutor has “the power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions and powers of an office of the district attorney.” This includes but is not limited to conducting court hearings, grand jury proceedings, and issuing warrants and subpoenas.

The bill says the appointee would have authority to use the “facilities, resources, and personnel of the Attorney General” to pursue criminal cases, as well as other law enforcement agencies including the Pennsylvania State Police.

The bill says Henry, who was appointed as attorney general this year, “shall appoint” the special prosecutor within 30 days.

A spokesperson for Henry did not say whether the office supports the measure, only that they are working to better understand the legislation’s requirements, responsibilities, and funding.

Krasner’s office, in a statement, said Henry “will ultimately decide whether the law is constitutional and therefore enforceable.”

The bill bars any employee of the District Attorney’s Office over the last six years — the totality of Krasner’s tenure in office — from occupying the new role.

The person must be a Philadelphia resident and have at least five years’ prosecutorial experience in Pennsylvania.

The bill is technically constitutional, said Bruce Ledewitz, a professor of constitutional law at Duquesne University.

Ledewitz said that Krasner does not have any guaranteed jurisdiction, and that it’s not uncommon for the Attorney General’s Office to assign special prosecutors for certain classes of crimes. But typically the goal is uniformity, with oversight for a certain crime class across all counties — not just one county for a specific period of time.

“This is very different of course,” he said. “It’s politically different, not constitutionally different. Obviously this is a slap at Krasner and only applies to Krasner.”

He said he doesn’t envision that it will be effective, and can’t see why a special prosecutor would want to handle SEPTA crimes. The bill does not appear to address funding, he said, and logistically, it would be difficult to coordinate cross-department investigations with Philadelphia and SEPTA police.

“It’s hard to believe the Attorney General’s Office would want to take any of these cases,” he said. “I can’t think of a reason to do it except of course to embarrass the DA, which is why this is being done.”

“It’s just a piece of political theater,” he said.

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, a Republican from Cambria County, said he introduced the bill after the Senate Transportation Committee met with SEPTA about ongoing crime issues. He said transit police were upset about a lack of enforcement, and riders felt unsafe.

He said the bill had “nothing to do” with impeachment efforts, and was rather meant to support Krasner.

“He should be welcoming this opportunity,” he said. “He can still prosecute crimes on SEPTA. And it doesn’t impact his staff.”

“This is a safety issue,” he said. “This is ultimately about bringing ridership back to the system, which will help their budget.”

After the bill passed the Republican-majority Senate in May, it sat in the House for months — until it was resurrected this week as part of a larger budget deal.

The bill passed the House, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority, in a 159-44 vote on Wednesday night. Most Philadelphia Democrats opposed it, except for three: State Reps. Amen Brown, Pat Gallagher, and Ed Neilson.

In a news conference Thursday afternoon, Krasner and State Sen. Sharif Street, a Philadelphia Democrat, urged Shapiro to veto the bill.

But Shapiro, who clashed with Krasner while attorney general, signed it into law Thursday afternoon.

“I’m happy that the governor signed this, and the bipartisanship,” Langerholc said. “This is about showing that it’s important to stand up to what’s happening on SEPTA.”

This is not the first time the legislature has attempted to take powers away from Krasner. In 2019, lawmakers passed a bill that gave the Attorney General’s Office the ability to prosecute certain gun crimes in Philadelphia instead of the District Attorney’s Office. Shapiro, then the attorney general, said he never asked for that power, and his office didn’t act on it.

State Republicans in recent years have also sought to introduce legislation that would bar Krasner from running for a third term, or allow certain officials in Philadelphia to face recall elections. None of those bills have passed.

Langerholc said it was “supported” by SEPTA, but not written in consultation with the agency.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch would not say whether the agency supported it, only that officials “will be working with our partners in Harrisburg to learn more about this bill.” SEPTA, he said, is more focused on securing additional funding to support its daily operations.

SEPTA has experienced an uptick in crime in recent years, even as ridership plummeted after the pandemic. While quality of life issues are most common, reports of violent crimes, particularly aggravated assaults, soared in the beginning of this year — although they remain relatively rare compared to the rest of the city. Transit police arrests have also fallen dramatically — and this week, the union representing the transit police announced they would strike.

While overall reports of crime have fallen over the past six months, there have been a series of high profile shootings and stabbings this year.

Wort Whipple, 14, was fatally shot on the 52nd Street Market-Frankford platform in May, and the next week, 15-year-old Randy Mills was shot and killed on a SEPTA bus. Then, in October, a longtime SEPTA bus driver was shot and killed while on duty, and earlier this month, three people, including a private security contractor, were stabbed.

Still, Krasner said Thursday that crime on SEPTA represents “less than 1% of all reported incidents of crime” in Philadelphia.

“If SEPTA were a neighborhood, it would be among the safest neighborhoods in the Commonwealth,” Krasner said.