Capitol Beat

The state Senate is laying the groundwork for Larry Krasner’s impeachment trial. Here’s how it will work.

Lawmakers will take procedural steps this week to start proceedings in January.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks at the state Capitol.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks at the state Capitol. Justin Sweitzer

Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania Senate this week will take a series of procedural votes as they prepare for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s impeachment trial, which is set to begin next January barring any unforeseen changes. 

The trial will follow a months-long investigation spearheaded by House Republicans, who looked to frame Krasner and his progressive approach to prosecuting and reducing incarceration levels as a catalyst for Philadelphia’s rising homicide rate. Citing misbehavior in office, Republican lawmakers voted 107-85 to formally impeach Krasner on Nov. 16, sending seven articles of impeachment to the Senate, which is tasked with conducting impeachment trials.

The trial won’t begin until January 2023, but state senators will return to Harrisburg this week to get the process started – the first impeachment trial held by the chamber in nearly 30 years. 

Here’s what to expect:

The Senate will return this week to vote on three resolutions.

The chamber will reconvene Tuesday and Wednesday to vote on a slate of resolutions that will outline how Krasner’s trial will operate. 

The first two resolutions will establish the trial rules and formally invite House impeachment managers to the Senate to present the articles. Once approved, the articles will be delivered to the chamber on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

On Wednesday, senators will also take an oath to uphold the Constitution, and will consider a third resolution – a writ of summons – that will direct Krasner to appear before the Senate on Jan. 18, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. for the start of the trial. 

Krasner would be required to respond to the writ of summons by noon on Dec. 21, according to the resolution.

The Senate can continue conducting normal legislative business while the trial is ongoing. Republican leaders in the state Senate have framed the impeachment trial as a “constitutional obligation,” underscoring that they are required to conduct the trial due to the House vote. 

“The Senate’s Constitutional obligations are clear, so we are prepared to fulfill our duties and continue the impeachment process,” retiring state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said in a statement last week. 

Krasner and Democrats have said the effort is politically motivated.

Krasner and most Democrats in the General Assembly have spoken out against the ongoing impeachment effort since GOP lawmakers first formed a select committee to investigate Krasner and crime in Philadelphia in June. 

During a stop in Harrisburg last month, Krasner said the probe was politically motivated. “This is an effort to impeach someone for political purposes who has done nothing corrupt and nothing illegal because they want to erase Philadelphia’s votes,” Krasner told reporters at the state Capitol. “They want to impeach our ideas. They want to erase Philadelphia’s votes.”

When reached for comment last week, a spokesperson for Krasner declined to comment on the Senate’s plan of action for the week, referring City & State to a legal filing that argues that the House “has no authority under the Pennsylvania Constitution to impeach the Philadelphia district attorney.”

A two-thirds majority in the state Senate is needed in order to convict Krasner of the articles presented by the House.

This will mark the Senate’s first impeachment trial in the chamber since the 1990s.

The last public official to face an impeachment trial conducted by the Senate was Rolf Larsen, a Democratic state Supreme Court justice who, in 1994, was convicted of conspiracy, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The conviction came after a grand jury recommended that the justice be prosecuted on one count of criminal conspiracy and more than 20 counts related to obtaining illegal tranquilizers, though in April 1994, he was ultimately convicted of just two counts by an Allegheny County jury.

The House voted unanimously in July of that year to impeach Larsen on seven counts of misbehavior in office. During his impeachment trial, he was later convicted of one count, and the chamber voted 49-0 to prohibit Larsen from holding public office, per the Tribune-Review.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.