Inquirer Editorial: Williams shouldn't wait another day to resign

Disgraced Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams needs to pack up his desk without further delay and walk out of the office for the last time.

A federal grand jury charged him last week with 23 counts of bribery, fraud, and other crimes for allegedly bartering his office for luxury vacations, a used Jaguar, an iPad, and other trinkets. Prosecutors say he even skimmed money from an account that was supposed to cover his 84-year-old mother's nursing home expenses.

Williams may want to stick around to continue collecting his $175,572-a-year salary, but taxpayers shouldn't have to pay him to spend his final days in office preparing for a corruption trial.

Since 2015, the city has endured revelations about Williams' questionable behavior, including his admitted failure to disclose gifts. The specter of a prosecutor who ignores simple ethics undermines the legal system.

A court will eventually determine Williams' guilt or innocence, but the public shouldn't have to wait that long to have a district attorney who can focus on serving the public, not himself.