Krasner’s campaign has mailed out a flyer encouraging voters to support Municipal Court candidate Sherrie Cohen and Common Pleas Court candidates Deborah Watson-Stokes and Taniesha Henry.
“This is your ticket for a safer, fairer future for Philadelphia,” the flyer says, featuring a photo of Krasner and headshots of the judicial hopefuls.
The three candidates’ campaigns donated a combined $60,000 to Krasner’s reelection campaign since late April, according to campaign finance reports.
Cohen, an attorney who has previously run for multiple offices unsuccessfully and is the daughter of the late City Councilmember David Cohen, in April donated $10,000 to Krasner, followed by another $7,000 in early May. Watson-Stokes, a longtime prosecutor who worked in Krasner’s office, gave $13,000 in April and $10,000 in May. And Henry, who has held several legal roles in Philadelphia Family Court, gave $20,000.
For Dugan, a former Municipal Court judge, the arrangement raised questions about whether Krasner’s endorsements were “about merit, or loyalty.”
“As a former President Judge and Municipal Judge of 17 years, I find it highly unethical to ask for or receive contributions from judicial candidates as a candidate for District Attorney,” Dugan said in a statement. “Both offices are supposed to remain impartial and independent. This entangles the two offices for potential issues in the future.”
In a news release Wednesday, Dugan’s campaign emphasized that both Cohen and Henry were rated as “not recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Krasner spokesperson Anthony Campisi said the campaign vetted judicial candidates to endorse those who “are highly qualified and that share our commitment to equal justice.”
“Our focus on reforming the criminal justice system doesn’t just rely on the district attorney,” he said. “It’s the police, the courts, the public defender.”
It’s common — in Philadelphia and counties across the country — for attorneys, political organizations, and politicians to donate to or endorse candidates running for courthouse offices, a dynamic that can lead to questions about conflicts of interest. Defense attorneys, for instance, regularly contribute to prosecutorial candidates and then negotiate plea deals with prosecutors on behalf of their clients.
Questions about the politicization of the judicial system are heightened in Pennsylvania because it is one of only a handful of states in which all judges are elected, from local small-claims courts to the state Supreme Court.
Campisi said Pennsylvania’s system makes it necessary for reformers like Krasner to get involved in judicial races.
“That’s the reality of what a system of electing judges looks like, and so we’re playing by the rules that have been laid out,” he said.
Campisi said Krasner was not worried that some of his endorsed candidates are not recommended by the bar association, which says its nonpartisan evaluations are based on “legal ability, experience, temperament” and other factors.
“With all due respect to the bar association, they don’t have a lock in identifying talented judicial candidates,” Campisi said.
Krasner, who has held the office since 2018, is widely seen as having the upper hand heading into the May 20 primary due to his superior name recognition, but Dugan has raised much more moneyand is backed by the politically powerful building trades unions. No Republican has filed to run, meaning Tuesday’s Democratic primary election will likely be decisive.
Unusual, Not Unprecedented
It’s unusual, but not unprecedented, for district attorneys to endorse judicial candidates, lawyers said. Krasner’s predecessor Seth Williams also backed candidates running for the bench while he was the city’s top prosecutor. (Williams in 2017 was convicted on bribery charges in an unrelated matter.)
But the arrangement presents problems both for Krasner and the endorsed judicial candidates, said Samuel C. Stretton, a Philadelphia attorney who has represented judges accused of misconduct and is an expert on legal ethics. Defense attorneys representing clients being prosecuted by Krasner’s assistant district attorneys in courtrooms overseen by Krasner’s endorsed judges will likely argue the relationship is a conflict of interest, he said.
“It opens up (prosecutors to) recusal and disqualification,” Stretton said. “If his office is in there, I’m going to ask him to recuse himself. And of course, he probably won’t, but it raises some issues.”
Unlike DA candidates, who can endorse any other politician, judicial candidates are prohibited by state law from endorsing anyone running for a non-judicial office.
Campisi said the judicial hopefuls’ donations to the DA’s campaign were meant to cover their shares of the costs of the mailer, not to endorse Krasner.
But Stretton said the candidates’ likenesses being printed on Krasner’s campaign literature creates the appearance of mutual endorsement.
“It’s not a very big leap from that to conclude he endorses them and they endorse him because they’ve sent checks to him,” he said. “It’s worrisome. You’ve got to keep an independent judiciary.”
Larry Otter, an election law expert who ran for Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in 2009, said there was no legal or ethical issues with Krasner backing judicial candidates, noting that he “is free to endorse whoever he wants.”
“Politics is politics,” Otter said. “Assuming these people get elected, they have a separate obligation. A judge is supposed to be impartial.”
But he agreed with Stretton that defense attorneys are likely in some cases to tell the endorsed judges they “have a level of discomfort” with the relationship between the DA’s office and the judge.
“Now that becomes the judge’s call,” Otter said, noting that cases in which that issue may arise could be transferred to other judges.
Neither Henry nor Watson-Stokes responded to requests for comment.
Cohen said Krasner’s endorsement will not affect her judgment if she is elected.
“I cannot endorse any non-judicial candidates, but I’m honored by the endorsement of District Attorney Larry Krasner,” Cohen said in an interview. “Judges are sworn to be independent and objective and unbiased regardless of whoever is in front of them.”
Krasner’s campaign paid The Strategy Division, a political consulting firm, to produce the mailer, Campisi said, but it has not yet reported the expenditure in a campaign finance report. Campisi declined to say how much it cost, but said it would include all the money that the judicial candidates paid Krasner’s campaign, plus an additional amount to cover Krasner’s share of the costs.
“We follow and the district attorney’s office follows all of the applicable city and state ethics laws,” Campisi said, “and we’re following squarely in the rules in doing this.”
On Election Day, the Krasner campaign is also planning to distribute its version of a sample ballot, a list of endorsed candidates typically handed out to voters as they enter the polls by Democratic or Republican committee members. Campisi said that flyer will include two additional judicial candidates endorsed by Krasner: Larry Farnese, a former state senator running for Common Pleas Court; and Cortez Patton, a Municipal Court candidate.
Campisi said those candidates are contributing smaller amounts to Krasner’s campaign to cover their share of the costs of the DA’s promotion of his slate on election day. Farnese’s campaign donated $3,500 to Krasner’s campaign on May 12. Krasner’s campaign has not yet reported a donation from Cortez Patton.
Krasner previously endorsed Mike Huff, a Common Pleas Court candidate who was disqualified after losing a protracted legal battle in which a judge ruled he likely lives outside Philadelphia and was ineligible to run in the city.
Cohen said the candidates’ arrangement with Krasner’s team was comparable to the most important form of campaigning in Philly judicial elections: seeking an endorsement from the Democratic City Committee, which also requires its endorsed candidates to pay to appear on its sample ballots.
“I’m on some of (Krasner’s) printed material, so it’s a contribution toward that in the same way that candidates endorsed by the Democratic City Committee are giving money to the City Committee,” she said.
The party’s endorsements can prove particularly impactful in low-turnout off-year election cycles like this year. The party this year has endorsed Watson-Stokes, Farnese, and Patton — but not Henry or Cohen.
The party also opted not to endorse Dugan or Krasner this year, a move that was seen as an unusual cold shoulder for an incumbent Democrat that reflects the establishment’s contentious relationship with the left wing of the party.
Bob Brady, who has been chair of the Democratic City Committee since 1986, said Krasner’s endorsement arrangement with judicial candidates — and the fact that he backed candidates who failed to secure bar association recommendations, something the party is often criticized for — means that the progressive prosecutor is merely “charging” to be on his ballot. He both criticized Krasner’s strategy and compared it to how the party operates.
“So he’s for sale,” Brady said. “He’s doing the same thing, and nobody says anything.”
Mostly Not Recommended
Common Pleas Court is the upper court in Philadelphia’s two-tier court system, and its judges oversee major cases including felony trials and civil lawsuits. Municipal Court judges hear cases involving minor crimes and civil disputes and also decide whether felony cases should go on to full trials in Common Pleas Court.
This year, there are three openings on Philadelphia Municipal Court and nine on the city’s Common Pleas Court bench.
Only one Municipal Court candidate, Amanda Davidson, is rated as “recommended” by the bar association. She is also endorsed by the city party, as are Patton and Shawn Page.
Conversely, the bar rated all of this year’s Common Pleas candidates as “recommended” except Henry. The party has endorsed nine Common Pleas hopefuls, including Watson-Stokes and Farnese.
Brady and other Philly Democratic leaders talk openly about what it takes to get the party’s nod: In addition to being qualified and fair-minded, at least in the eyes of the party, candidates benefit from doing pro-bono legal work for Democratic ward leaders and politicians.
Party-endorsed candidates almost always come out on top in Philadelphia judicial elections, but other factors — such as drawing a prominent place on the ballot, or winning support from progressive groups that break with the Democratic establishment — sometimes leads to upsets.
Cohen this year has drawn the top ballot position in the Municipal Court race, and she is endorsed by progressive groups like the Working Families Party and Reclaim Philadelphia.
Brady said Cohen, who has run repeatedly for Council and judicial seats without success, this year posed a real threat to the party’s slate.
“She pulled No. 1,” said Brady, a former U.S. representative. “We might not beat her.”
Pennsylvania law requires judges to retire at 75 years old, and Cohen is 70 years old, meaning that she will be unable to complete her six-year term if she is elected.
As it happens, Stretton said the only candidate he is supporting in this year’s judicial elections is Cohen. She did not ask his advice before contributing to Krasner’s campaign, he said.
“I would have told her not to,” he said.
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