Members of the Pennsylvania House on Wednesday voted to impeach Philadelphia’s twice-elected district attorney, Larry Krasner. The 107-85 vote, almost entirely along party lines, is an unabashed and unprecedented attack by the General Assembly on the right of local communities to govern themselves.

Never mind the baloney from House Republicans expressing concern for the people of Philadelphia. Allowing the General Assembly to remove an elected local official, without proper cause, would set a horrible and illegitimate precedent, threatening the autonomy of local communities and disenfranchising their voters.

The constitutional standard for impeachment is high, and the House hasn’t come close to meeting it. Only twice in the last 200 years has the House impeached an elected official — a State Supreme Court Justice in 1994 for improper influence by a political supporter, and a county judge in 1811 for imprisoning people for wearing hats in court. Both cases met the constitutional grounds for impeachment: misbehavior in office.

“Misbehavior” means malfeasance, misconduct or corruption. There is none in Mr. Krasner’s office. Instead, the articles of impeachment blame Mr. Krasner’s reform measures for a two-year spike in gun violence, and allege he was derelict in his duty to protect citizens. No evidence, however, directly links Mr. Krasner’s policies with an increase in homicides that is affecting major cities nationwide, including Pittsburgh. More to the point, if “misbehavior” meant policies legislators don’t like, every elected official in Pennsylvania would be subject to the whims of the General Assembly.

“This is a complete abuse of the process,” Jane Roh, spokesperson for Mr. Krasner’s office, said this week.