HARRISBURG, Pa. — Harrisburg City Council candidate Lamont Jones will remain on the November ballot after a judge ruled his past criminal record did not disqualify him from office.
Jones has spoken publicly about his past convictions for making false statements, a misdemeanor, in 1997 and for felony drug possession with intent to distribute in 2004 and 2005.
Since then, Jones has become a criminal justice reform advocate. He previously led Harrisburg nonprofit Breaking the Chainz serves and currently runs his own company helping formerly incarcerated people reenter society. He serves on several public advisory boards that deal with criminal justice issues, such as the Dauphin County Reentry Coalition.
The Pennsylvania state constitution bans those who have been convicted of “infamous crimes” from holding office in the Commonwealth.
A lawsuit filed in July against Jones argued his past convictions disqualified him from serving on the Harrisburg City Council.
“At the surface this is about, can a man atone and do work and pour back into his community?” said Anna White, a community activist and Jones campaign worker. “We have to be able to understand that when people pay back and pour into their community, that there is no ceiling, that they should be able to represent their community even in government positions.”
In court, Jones’ lawyer, John Bravacos, argued the case was moot because Jones has already applied to receive a pardon that, if granted, would likely take effect before he was sworn into office.
Jones is scheduled to go before the Board of Pardons on Nov. 6. He was denied a pardon in 2022. According to his lawyer, the denial was due to outstanding fines and costs. Jones has since received support for a pardon from prominent officials such as Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel and Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo.
The two plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Katherine Knapp and Sherron Roy, are both listed as Democratic voters.
Jones says his past was not the real issue on trial, but rather that he believed long-time political figures in Harrisburg were really behind the lawsuit.
“We have a certain political climate in the city Harrisburg that continues to happen and people hide behind plaintiffs like Katherine Knapp or Sherron Roy and try to disrupt our electoral process,” Jones said.
After a trial that lasted roughly three hours, Judge Jeffrey Engle ruled that the request to remove Jones from the ballot was denied.
In a Democratic-majority city, Jones’ name on the ballot is likely to lead to his election in November. He said if that happens, he will continue to shake up local politics.
“I obviously pose a threat to the status quo and today not only the court spoke, but the people have spoken again.”
After the ruling, Marco Attisano, the attorney for the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement,
“We are disappointed in the ruling. This case is about ensuring voters’ rights to a free and fair election and that voters have the ability to vote for a candidate who is eligible to serve in the office they are seeking. If Mr. Jones is elected and then removed from office due to his ineligibility to serve, the voters would be deprived of choosing their member of City Council because Mr. Jones’s replacement would be chosen by members of City Council and not the voters. This lawsuit is the only way to protect voters’ rights to pick their members of City Council. With that in mind we’re leaving all options open and will seriously review a possible appeal.”