This May, Philly has a chance to elect a brand new district attorney. The DA is the most powerful decisionmaker in our criminal justice system–and Philly needs a DA that’s here for the people.  In a city that arrests twice as many people on average than other big cities, and that locks up far more Black & Brown folks, the DA has massive power over who is protected and who is prosecuted.

Aside from having control over the decisions that can make or break someone’s life, they have executive power over the hundreds of staff and prosecutors running cases in our city courts. They have deeply coordinated relationships with the police, judges, and a big influence in Harrisburg. Especially in the Trump era, when we’re seeing a resurgence of racially coded “Law & Order” tactics and violent persecution of immigrant families,  the DA election is one of the most important to show up for.

The 2017 race is wide open–and that means candidates have to earn our votes. We need more than talk about progressive policies, we need real concrete plans and commitments to stop putting so many Black and Brown people in cages. Because the persistence of high crime in the most heavily policed areas tells us one thing: criminalizing the most vulnerable of us doesn’t keep us safe.