Charles Fain Lehman is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where he works on policing and public safety.
Case
A federal judge disqualified Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner and a top aide from a murder-conviction appeal, declined to disqualify the District Attorney's Office, and referred all three to federal prosecutors, writing they may have violated the law. Krasner disputes the findings and plans to appeal.
Case
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Role at the time: Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writing a signed article in City Journal
Statement summary
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Charles Fain Lehman wrote in City Journal that Krasner has already been reprimanded by another federal judge and seen his conviction-integrity unit constrained by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and that a criminal referral would be the next logical step for an office that seems committed to misleading the courts in the name of its theory of justice.
“The criminal referral would be the next logical step for an office that seems committed to misleading the courts in the name of its theory of justice.”
Lehman describes the referral as the next step for an office he says seems committed to misleading the courts, which is his own evaluation of the conduct at issue. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, because he notes it is unclear whether the U.S. Attorney will act. That loses because the uncertainty concerns the prosecutors' decision, not his assessment of Krasner's conduct.
Role at the time: Manhattan Institute fellow and Atlantic contributor
Statement summary
Lehman argued that networked license-plate readers can help police investigate crime and should remain available with privacy regulation, rather than be banned.
“Privacy concerns can be best addressed through smart regulation, not bans.”
Lehman directly defends keeping ALPR networks in use and calls bans an overreaction.
Statement dates: August 10, 2026 to September 17, 2026
Statement dates: August 10, 2026
Statement dates: August 10, 2026
