A federal judge approved the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to walk away from an agreement that would have brought sweeping changes to policing in Minneapolis.
Last week, the DOJ asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit and federal consent decree, a legally binding agreement that would have required the city to create police reforms. The lawsuit came after a federal “pattern or practice” investigation, which followed the police killing of George Floyd and found that Minneapolis police routinely discriminate against people of color and violated residents’ civil rights.
The city and the DOJ negotiated the federal consent decree earlier this year, in the final days of the Biden administration, but it needed the signature of a federal judge to become final.
Community members feared that the DOJ would want to dismiss the case if it wasn’t approved by a judge before President Donald Trump took office. Trump’s administration has started fewer “pattern or practice” investigations into police departments than any other president.
In an order Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson granted the DOJ’s request, and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning that the agreement can’t be brought forward again in the future.
Minneapolis officials said they would not back away from their commitment to implementing the decree’s reforms.
“The bottom line is that we are doing it anyway. We will implement every reform in the 169-page consent decree,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement. “Minneapolis is making great progress on police reform, and we don’t need permission from Washington or a federal judge to keep pushing forward.”
Community activists said last week that they will do what they can to hold the city accountable as they vow to implement the changes. They called the DOJ’s request to dismiss the consent decree just days before the five-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police “coldhearted.”
The city is already under a state consent decree with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. That agreement is being monitored by the group Effective Law Enforcement for All, or ELEFA. Aaron Rose, a spokesperson for Frey, said that the city has asked ELEFA to monitor the reforms that were outlined in the federal agreement as well as the state agreement.
Advocates say both consent decrees need to be in place, as the state consent decree can only enforce the Minnesota Human Rights Act, while a federal consent decree can have a broader scope. Federal consent decrees also usually take place over a longer period of time.
Magnuson, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, wrote in his order that he had “grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest.”
“In the Court’s view, the considerable sum of taxpayer money allocated for the proposed consent decree’s oversight and execution, including paying the monitor $750,000 per year, would better fund hiring police officers to bolster the City’s dwindling police force and promote public safety,” Magnuson wrote.
He also wrote in his ruling that he doesn’t think the DOJ’s investigation includes enough data “reflecting the number or frequency of the City or MPD’s alleged violations of the law.”
The results of the DOJ’s investigation were released in 2023, which had four key findings:
- Minneapolis police used excessive force.
- Police discriminated against Black and Native residents in traffic stops.
- They violated the rights of people engaged in First Amendment-protected activities, including protests.
- They discriminated against people with behavioral health disabilities.
Advocates said after the investigation was released that they’ve experienced violent encounters with the Minneapolis police and were often ignored.
