What does dismantling the American carceral state look like? How can meaningful and radical police reform actually be enacted? After years of tireless work by activists, acting upon decades of injustice against the poor and People of Color, these issues of now part of mainstream political platforms. On a federal level, President Joe Biden’s recent executive order to phase out the use of private, for-profit prisons is a clear indication of how far things have come….and how much further they need to go. The pathway to the prison system starts all the way down at the municipal level where district attorneys wield enormous power in setting prosecutorial standards. These parameters have generally followed a trend toward the draconian, driven by “tough on crime” rhetoric and career advancement tied to driving up prosecution numbers. However, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner isn’t looking at the governor’s seat and doesn’t have much regard for the status quo. As profiled in the admirably complex and captivating eight-part series “Philly D.A.” — with two episodes premiering at Sundance and made available to press — Krasner is what change looks like, and that’s what makes him so terrifying to the establishment.

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