Why This Main Line Woman Is Suing NYU for Libel

Left: Former Philadelphia assistant district attorney Beth Ann McCaffery, who now works for the Delaware County District Attorney’s office. (Photo courtesy Delaware County District Attorney.) Right: Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner. (Image via his official X account.)

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Why Main Line Lawyer Beth Ann McCaffery Is Suing NYU for Libel (And What It All Has to Do With Larry Krasner)

These days, Haverford resident Beth Ann McCaffery works as an assistant district attorney in Delaware County. But from the early aughts through 2014, she was an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. She served under both Lynne Abraham and Seth Williams. She worked her way up through the ranks, eventually landing in the homicide unit. There, she prosecuted dozens of murder cases. In 2014, she decided to put her career on hold and focus on her young kids. All was right with the world. But then came Larry Krasner.

Krasner took office in 2018, determined to clean house, right past wrongs committed by the office, and implement his progressive agenda in Philadelphia. Part of his plan included the installation of Patricia Cummings as the chief of his Conviction Integrity Unit. Her mission was to look at past cases to find wrongly incarcerated prisoners.

Later in 2018, Cummings drafted a motion stating that a prisoner was wrongly convicted due to “egregious prosecutorial misconduct.” Krasner and a judge agreed. The court tossed the case and freed him, clearing his name. Cummings didn’t name McCaffery as one of the two prosecutors involved with the case over the years, the ones allegedly guilty of egregious prosecutorial misconduct, but the media put it together and outed McCaffery. She was the recipient of no shortage of outrage and criticism.

But McCaffery has always maintained that she did nothing wrong and that Cummings failed to handle the investigation into McCaffery’s role in the case properly, neglecting to get her side of the story. McCaffery wasn’t going to go away quietly, her tail between her legs. She took Krasner’s office to court and, this past March, scored a victory.

The judge in the case determined that the allegations against McCaffery and another prosecutor were “maliciously intended” and that there was “no good faith basis” to level the allegations in the first place. She went on to accuse Krasner of creating a culture that wants to “denigrate prior prosecutors, prior administrations, to an unusually extreme level… And when that is your purpose, to detect fault instead of evaluating fairness, this lends to an inherent bias and perception.” A stern rebuke for a guy who is likely to take the Democratic primary tomorrow and, barring some huge scandal, win a third term as DA in November’s general election. The judge also fined Krasner’s office $120,000.

And McCaffery isn’t done yet. You see, Cummings now works for NYU, and the school recently published a report written by Cummings, “Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.” But this time around, Cummings named McCaffery. She wrote that McCaffery “failed to move beyond the virtue of winning” and that she and the other prosecutor “neglected their role as truth-seeking, impartial ministers of justice.” Cummings had some other scathing things to say.

McCaffery says that the allegations against her are false and damaging to her character, so McCaffery is suing Cummings and NYU for libel. The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, was originally filed in Bucks County but moved to federal court last week.

Score One for Vegans Everywhere

One doesn’t typically associate South Philly with vegan-friendliness. (Let us not forget this absolute anti-vegan fracas down there.) And now that a vegan by the name of Shreya Choudhary just won the iconic greased-pole climbing contest, word is that the Trump administration has banned vegans from competing in any competitions and is considering deporting them to an Argentinean steakhouse-prison, where they will be reeducated. Kidding. Maybe.

My New Column

Because I only write Philly Today Monday through Thursday, I thought, why not start a brand new column to run on Fridays, what with all of the extra time and expendable energy I have. I call it “Just Ask Victor.” Think of it as an advice column for navigating life in Philadelphia. My first column was all about a Main Line dad and his financial stress over prom and his “asshole” son. And Friday’s was an explainer of why people are paying way, way, way too much money to see events in Philadelphia. Got a question for me to answer? You can submit it here.

By the Numbers

31: One of the bus routes that SEPTA is expected to cut this fall — it goes from 76th and City Avenue to City Hall — which has some people scratching their heads, since the route does not have low ridership and the cost of operating it is lower than average.

4.9 million: Cases of beverages that local boozy tea juggernaut Surfside sold last year. Read the full story about the fastest-growing alcohol brand in the United States here. I’ll take a case of the half tea, half lemonade if you’re stopping at the beer distributor.

$2,183.60: What it will cost you to buy a pair of fourth-row center tickets to see the Who play Wells Fargo Center in August. That’s direct from Ticketmaster. Not one of these shady things.

Local Talent

You know you live in a sports-obsessed city when a local artist installs a yarnbomb of Jason Kelce and the Phillies Phanatic. Gotta love it. And we’re now just one game behind those dastardly Mets. The Phillies play the Rockies at 8:40pm today. As in the 8-38 Rockies. Should be an easy win. Of course, let’s not forget about the surprise suspension of Jose Alvarado.