Prison Radio
Omar Askia Ali

Hello, my name is Omar Askia Ali AKA Edward Sistrunk. Uh, my topic is the Philadelphia new DA.

It is understood that a prosecutor has a higher calling than just to win. He or she has a duty to do justice. Therein the new DA in Philadelphia is living up to the highest standard of what a DA is supposed to be.

As soon as the new progressive DA Larry Krasner took office, he appointed Patricia Conley as chief of the new Conviction Integrity Unit, which is just one of his pledges for sweeping reforms to the criminal justice system.

He removed thus far 32 former assistant DAs from his office and made the court of public opinion aware of a list of tainted police officers who are part of the reason Philadelphia locks up more people per capita than any other big city in the nation and Philadelphia has been sued repeatedly for prison overcrowding. See Philadelphia magazine series April 2017 at phillymag.com.

Subsequent evidence showed that the DA office has manipulated the jury selection process as to get an all-white jury, which is an old draconian premeditated [inaudible] scheme that is synonymous to a hi-tech lynching.

Recognizing the nature of this tactic, the United States Supreme Court in several rulings over the last 40 years have outlawed the practice in the succession of cases. However, instead of adhering to these precedents, prosecutors nationwide, that repackaged the tactic in order to circumvent the high court’s precedence and render it impotent.

What the court of public opinion has to understand is overcrowded prisons is a businessman’s dream, because crowded prisons mean a stationary clientele to sell all sorts of goods. Prison stock is traded on Wall Street. Prison-based gerrymandering is another illegal scheme.
See www.prisonersofthecensus.org or contact Peter Wagner at www.prisonpolicy.org. Thank you very much.

These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.