Good morning, and welcome to Broad + Liberty's Weekly Reads.

Subscribe to our daily email list and get the best of Broad + Liberty delivered straight to your inbox. 

1. Ideology over justice — How Larry Krasner’s policies failed Kada Scott

By Ben Mannes
 

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is facing growing outrage following the brutal kidnapping and murder of 23-year-old Kada Scott — a crime many argue could have been prevented had his office competently handled earlier charges against the alleged killer, 21-year-old Keon King. 

At a press briefing last week, Krasner attempted to shift responsibility for King’s release. 

“The unfortunate reality,” Krasner told reporters, “is that some, but not all, of these judges don’t want you calling them in the middle of the night” to appeal bail decisions. It was a familiar refrain for a DA who has long blamed the system he swore to reform. But as court officials later made clear, Krasner’s story doesn’t hold up.

Why It Matters. Former Magistrate Judge Jim O’Brien dismissed Krasner’s claim that his office was deterred from appealing the $200,000 bail set by a magistrate because judges dislike middle-of-the-night calls.

“After bail is set, both the D.A.’s office and the defense have the right to an immediate appeal to the emergency standby judges,” O’Brien said. “They have a two-hour window to file that appeal… and the standby judge is available 24/7. I don’t know of a single judge who would punish the appellant by setting the bail higher or lower to discourage people from waking them up. His assertion is nonsense.”

That process is well established: the preliminary arraignment court operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If Krasner’s staff failed to pursue a bail modification, the responsibility lies squarely with his office — not with the judiciary. 

Continue Reading

2. When compassion means intervention — rethinking how we treat the severely mentally ill

By Richard Kosich
 

"I don’t even know the lady…why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?”

That’s what a homeless ex-con can be heard asking his sister during an August 28 jailhouse phone conversation they had while he was incarcerated. That career criminal is murder suspect Decarlos Brown Jr., who allegedly fatally stabbed 23-year old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in what police said was a random attack on a North Carolina light rail train last August 22. 

Brown’s family says he was a previously diagnosed schizophrenic who suffered from hallucinations and paranoia and was “hearing voices” prior to the attack. Brown was failed by the state, his younger sister added, saying that he was “not safe” to be released as he was a “high risk” and “not in his right mind.” 

Brown’s mother confirmed his chronic mental health struggles but also believed the murder could have been prevented with a successful mental health intervention while he was previously incarcerated.

Why It Matters. It’s no secret that mental health issues and substance abuse are prevalent among the homeless population. The National Coalition for the Homeless, for example, reports that approximately 20-25 percent of the homeless population in the U.S. suffers from serious mental illness, compared to 6 percent of the general population. 

Here in Pennsylvania, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that one in five of the more than 12,500 people in the commonwealth who are without homes have a serious mental illness. It’s even more prevalent in Philadelphia; while people with serious mental illness make up just under three percent of the adult population in Philadelphia, an estimated 40 percent of the city’s homeless population, most of whom are chronically homeless, have such a condition.

Pennsylvania’s state laws have been criticized for requiring probability that death, serious bodily injury, or serious physical debilitation will occur within 30 days to trigger an involuntary civil commitment, based exclusively on whether such harms have occurred within the prior 30 days, but without reference to an individual’s treatment history. 

Continue Reading

3. Lightning Round

• Mark Schweiker: Pennsylvania’s energy future is bright and bipartisan

• Becky Corbin: Cancer is cancer. Pennsylvanians must prioritize early screening.

• Christine Flowers: Judging the judges and there’s a lot to not like

• Guy Ciarrocchi: Why won’t Democrats condemn violence?

• Thom Nickels: Psychic to (Philadelphia) stars

• Brandon Graham returns when the Eagles need him most

• Paul Davis: Teens, terror, and social media

• Seth Higgins: People will demand order

4. What we're reading

Across the river in New Jersey, they’re having a governor’s race. If you watch the Eagles, you’ve probably seen the ads. The latest polls show Democrat Mikie Sherrill up five points over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but Ryan King at the New York Post suggests that this may actually be good news for the Republican.

The polls in this race four years ago were wrong — dramatically so. Could the same be true again? “Overall, Sherrill has a 4.1-point lead in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate, which underestimated Ciattarelli’s by about 5 points during his 2021 gubernatorial bid.” Maybe the pollsters have refined their systems. Maybe they haven’t. Betting markets still favor Sherrill, but the pundits think this one will be closer than advertised.

5. We are so back.

After last week’s offensive explosion and the return of Brandon Graham, are the Eagles back? Managing wide receivers — often the most temperamental and emotional of players — is always a fraught process, Mike Missanelli writes this week. Read more about that and more from him at On Pattison — a part of the Fideri News Network.