Seth Williams for DA

by Chris Bowers, Thu Apr 21, 2005 at 12:46:38 PM EDT

The Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney is on May 17th, and in Philadelphia Democratic primaries are the general election. In the primary, I endorse challenger Seth Williams, who is giving incumbent Lynn Abraham a run for her money. Abraham is best known nationally as the DA who has sought the death penalty more than any other DA in the country and as the person who personally blocked the nomination of Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson to Federal Court.

Williams has been roundly endorsed by the Philadelphia blogopshere and netroots, including speaking at the last two Philadelphia DFA Meetups. Now, local bloggers are taking things to the next level. Young Philly Politics has the details:

Those of us who want to see our City improve must put our money where our mouths are. We have a candidate who can make a real difference in this City. Please help. As we said, there are three important things you can do: One, email this post to as many people as possible, and spread the word. Two, sign up to volunteer on the campaign. And three, please donate, and help Seth run ads as the campaign winds down. Every dollar makes a difference.

Throughout the day, I will update the post with Philly bloggers who are joining in on the effort. Together, progressives in Philadelphia can make a difference. But, as I said, we have to put our money where our mouths are, and support a dynamic candidate who will enact real, progressive reform in Philadelphia.

Update:
Chris, from Rowhouse Logic joins in.
Jane says her piece.
Karl and Matt, editors of Philly Future, give a detailed case for change.
Alex at Music for America, steps to the plate.
ACM, of a Smoke Filled Room, spreads the word.
America's Hometown endorses Seth.

I encourage readers to take any and all of the actions outlined above. Suburban Guerilla has done the same. Here's to hoping that the likes of Atrios, All Spin Zone, and Rittenhouse Review join in.

(As a side note, anyone have a guess as to why Philly is so well represented in the lefty political blogosphere?)

Tags: Primary Elections (all tags)

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Good work Daniel n/t

by Tim Tagaris 2005-04-21 12:52PM | 0 recs

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I do not live there

But from what I have read I would support the incumbent I like the idea of a DA who backs the death penalty.

by THE MODERATE 2005-04-21 12:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: I do not live there

And it has done such a wonderful job of reducing violent crime in Philadelphia.

She's doesn't just supprot the death penalty, she has sought it more than any other individual in the entire nation. And yet violent crime continues to rise.

by Chris Bowers 2005-04-21 01:02PM | 0 recs

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Re: I do not live there

You're missing the point- Seth Williams supports the Death Penalty, but he's not gung-ho about offing people...

by Alex Urevick 2005-04-21 01:11PM | 0 recs

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Thanks, Chris

This is an election where a small band of activists can make a difference.

Thanks for stepping to the plate.

As for the Philly-lefty-blogosphere question, I am as stumped as you. I do think, that in the future, as community sites such as Philly Future gorw more powerful, this is a good sign for Philly politics.

by DanielUA 2005-04-21 01:09PM | 0 recs

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Re: Thanks, Chris

It's up on Swing State Project now as well. Different take though.

Tim

by Tim Tagaris 2005-04-21 01:15PM | 0 recs

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Re: Thanks, Chris

Great posts Tim and Chris (and thanks as well).

If I would venture a guess on why we have so many great liberal leaning bloggers - at least focussing on the national level - like MyDD, Billmon, Atrios, SG and others, it is because it reflects the concerns of the population of the city itself.

Locally, however, the pot is stirring. Those blogs focusing on the city do seem to lean left. But get outside the city limits and there is growing group of state focused blogs that come from the perspective of the right. I am aware of of no PA state blogs that are left leaning. None whatsoever.

by kmartino 2005-04-22 02:58AM | 0 recs

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Re: Thanks, Chris

That's true. Reps seems to be doing a very good job of taking over statewide blogs in a lo of places. We need to fix that.

by Chris Bowers 2005-04-23 12:16PM | 0 recs

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The word is "blogzome,"

not blogosphere.

At allspinzone I rarely come out and support a candidate. If it is just flashing some news on his candidacy, though, I'm up with that.

by SpinDentist 2005-04-21 01:11PM | 0 recs

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If Abraham goes will she take Roger King with her?

Moderate -
One of the problems with striving for the death penalty more than any other DA in the country is that when you combine an adversarial judicial system with an ADA whose ego is in overdrive you get a high stakes winner-take-all game, not justice. ADA Roger King is our local posterboy in that regard. If you want to see one of several eggregious cases of his win-at-all costs approaches to criminal justice (a mentality endorsed by the Abraham administration), I suggest you take a look at the case of Jimmy Dennis (http://www.ccadp.org/jimmydennis.html), current PA death row resident. Rather than recap the entire case, which is well documented, suffice it to say that King is an excellent ADA - if your definition of excellent is that he can win the death penalty in a case that rests solely on inconsistent (and later, repudiated) circumstantial evidence and admonishing jurors to "send criminals a message" rather than weigh the facts of the case before them.

While I do not share your position on the death penalty in general, I believe that many fair-minded people death penalty proponents (including many of the Appeals Court justice who have reviewed this case) would feel a bit queasy about its application in this case and about the Philly DA's office drive to stay number one.

Re: why so many philly bloggers? As a local I have very mixed feelings about the city. Maybe it is more appealing to be online than in real life in this city. If I am wrong, suggestions about a more interesting Philly-based offline life welcome.

by Caleigh 2005-04-21 05:14PM | 0 recs

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Re: If Abraham goes will she take Roger King with

Philly is awesome. I am full of suggestions with how to best realize that.

by DanielUA 2005-04-21 06:08PM | 0 recs

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As someone who used to live in Philly,

I admit full-heartedly that I actually LIKE Lynn Abraham. I mean, she can be a very strong woman who is determined to prove that she is just as tough as any man in that office. Perhaps that is why she is as forceful as she is in her support of the death penalty.

Her support of the death penalty is not the reason the crime rate has gotten so much higher. Mayor Street & the City Council are more to blame than is the DA's office.

by triciawyse 2005-04-21 08:56PM | 0 recs

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Civil rights issues, too

Abraham's death penalty overzealousness is only part of her DA office's general policy to overcharge suspects. Not a big Iverson fan, but Abraham's laundry list of charges against him last year in a domestic violence case was really over-the-top. She also threw the book at a grandfather who had picked up his 2-3 yr old granddaughter to drop her off at daycare, put her in the backseat, then forgot she was there, drove to work and accidentally left her in his car where, sadly, she died from heat prostration. It was proven there was no malice involved, just a very unfortunate accident yet Abraham insisted the grandfather be prosecuted and sent to jail. Even Judge Seamus McCafferty (Eagles court fame), a real hard-nosed, no nonsense justice and ex-cop, said the grandfather had suffered enough knowing he caused his granddaughters death and didn't deserve further punishment. Those are just a couple of examples of how her DA's office overprosecutes.

But what turned me off on Lynn Abraham were her outrageous acts of pulling "suspected protestors" off the streets during the 2000 RNC in Philly. She held two of the "suspects" on 1M bail even though neither person had done anything to warrant arrest. Both defendents were acquitted. Further, not ONE protestor that was arrested during the RNC was convicted of a crime. I voted for Abraham 2 cycles ago, but in 2001, cast my ballot for Peter Ash (G). I'm voting Williams in the primary and if Abraham wins, either not voting DA office or for a third party candidate.

by phillydem 2005-04-21 11:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: Civil rights issues, too

Over charging is her M.O. She does it with everything, sort of a throw it on the wall and see what sticks method.

by DanielUA 2005-04-22 04:37AM | 0 recs

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Re: Civil rights issues, too

It's also every other prosecutor's MO, and, let's not forget, the charges against AI were dropped pretty quickly.

by Adam B 2005-04-22 10:44AM | 0 recs

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Re: Civil rights issues, too

It doesn't have to be and will not be if Seth is victorious in the primary. And none of us want to be charged with crimes we didn't commit.

by Mother23 2005-04-22 02:06PM | 0 recs

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I'm too new to Philly politics...

...but Seth came to Drinking Liberally on Tuesday, and I must say that I'm impressed by him. I don't know enough about his competitor, but FWIW I'm leaning towards endorsing him on my blog as well. Coeruleus isn't read by many so maybe I'll also send some cash!

by coeruleus 2005-04-22 06:23PM | 0 recs

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Re: I'm too new to Philly politics...

Cool. Every dollar helps the cause.

And, welcome to the wacky world of Philly politics.

by DanielUA 2005-04-22 07:23PM | 0 recs