Karen Simmons

Karen Simmons, a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge who supervises the criminal division of the city's lower courts and frequently presides over homicide cases, intervened in an internal personnel dispute inside the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. When DA Larry Krasner moved to resolve a monthlong conflict between two homicide-unit supervisors by reassigning one of them, Simmons met with Krasner and objected to the reassignment, then went further by asking City Council President Kenyatta Johnson to weigh in.

Simmons, who is a mentor to one of the supervisors, has said she was advocating for racial equity in the justice system. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the episode raised ethical concerns given the unusual nature of a sitting judge inserting herself into a personnel matter inside the executive branch's prosecutorial office — a separate branch of government over which she has no formal authority.