I have thrice speculated that Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and sometime editorial writer Daniel Pearson might be a conservative. He really isn’t, but for a liberal, and especially someone on the staff of the Inky, he is not only willing to interact with people with whom he disagrees, unlike Will Bunch, but actually supports conservative ideas on occasion. The newspaper has frequently supported the George Soros-sponsored, criminal-loving and police-hating District Attorney, but on this occasion he has dared to criticize Larry Krasner:

Krasner misses a chance to send a message against violence on SEPTA

by Daniel Pearson | Friday, August 7, 2026 | 7:01 AM EDT

On Oct. 26, 2023, Bernard Gribbin became the first city transit operator to die by gunfire while on the job. Family members called him “the best of the best,” and described the 48-year-old Army veteran as a man who loved Philadelphia, who proudly took out-of-town relatives on tours of the city when they came to visit, and who served the public by working as a bus operator — a demanding, underpaid, and utterly essential job.

Gribbin’s murder sent shock waves through the city’s transit agency. His colleagues were left angry and afraid.

Around that time, reporting from Mensah Dean at the Trace identified a spate of attacks against public employees. During the next contract negotiations, the Transport Workers Union demanded SEPTA install bulletproof glass to protect drivers. Operators report that management, which has long emphasized de-escalation, became even more strict about the kinds of interactions bus drivers and train conductors are permitted to have with unruly passengers. For many, this undermined their sense of stewardship of their vehicles.

The death of Gribbin seemed like a case in which prosecutors could send a message that violence against SEPTA workers will be met with serious consequences. Instead, District Attorney Larry Krasner opted to accept a plea bargain.

From Chapter 18 §2502. 

Gribbin’s killer, Zhontay Capers, was able to secure a conviction for third-degree murder this week, rather than first, which was her original charge. Pennsylvania law defines first-degree murder as a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing. Given Capers shot six times and that surveillance video showed her with a firearm shortly before the shooting, there would seem to be a strong case.

The columnist noted that there are factors the District Attorney’s Office must consider when deciding to offer or accept a plea bargain arrangement.

Miss Capers has been in custody since the murder in 2023. Thus, she already has 2¾ years of whatever her sentence will be as time already served. Now 24 years old, if she gets the maximum of 40 years in prison, she’ll be getting out of prison by no later than age 61, as Mr Pearson noted:

Yet, Krasner’s office refused to comment on any of these possibilities when asked. Instead, they called it an example of individual justice. Capers now faces up to 40 years in prison, rather than a life sentence. Unlike Gribbin, she may one day again enjoy the unfettered company of friends and family.

Is this not something a conservative would write? Is this not something I have previously said?

A conviction for first degree murder carries either the death penalty, something which Mr Krasner has said he would never seek, or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; a conviction on third-degree murder maxes out at forty years, but it is possible that the murderer will be sentenced to something less; a twenty year sentence would not be uncommon, and that could put her back on the streets at age 41, if she isn’t paroled even earlier.

Mr Gribbin will still be stone-cold graveyard dead.

Public transportation is one of Mr Pearson’s topics of interest, and if I recall correctly, he uses SEPTA to get to-and-from work, at least part of the time. He has been very adamant about protecting the transit agency, not only on funding for it, but against fare cheaters. Perhaps that concentration motivated his column this morning, but enforcing the laws is something civilized society requires.