A new community board hopes to hold Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty accountable and advance criminal justice reform efforts.
The Hennepin County Attorney Community Relations Board will operate independently from Moriarty’s office, and will focus on police accountability, youth justice, resentencing and wrongful convictions. Board members say the group, modeled after others across the country, is the first of its kind in Minnesota.
The board currently draws input from 18 community groups, but hopes to have more join. Current members include the Minneapolis NAACP, Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform and Color of Change. The group meets biweekly, and will also regularly hold meetings with community members to get input on changes they want to see at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Hassan Q. As-Sidiq, founder of the Black Community Board, said at a news conference Thursday that he has seen firsthand the barriers that people of color face in the justice system. He said prosecutors have significant power, and community members deserve the opportunity to offer input on charging decisions and sentencing recommendations.
“Changing the relationship between the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the community is crucial,” As-Sidiq said. “For too long, there has been a disconnect, a lack of trust and a perception that the justice system works against rather than for the people.”
The board’s independence means it can be more objective, said Michael Collins, senior director of government affairs at Color of Change. Color of Change is a national civil rights advocacy organization that worked with local groups to establish the new coalition.
“We’re not going to be some sort of cheerleaders,” Collins said in an interview with Sahan Journal. “It’s about accountability.”
Shruti Lakshmanan, policy and government affairs manager at Color of Change, said Moriarty ran on promises to reform the justice system and stepped into her role as county attorney when more progressive candidates were being elected following the murder of George Floyd.
Lakshmanan said Moriarty’s office has “made strides” in its work on expungement clinics, alternatives to youth incarceration and by prioritizing nonimmigrant visas for crime victims.
“Yet more can and should be done,” she said at the news conference.
Moriarty’s office says it looks forward to working with the new coalition.
Jennifer White, the office’s director of community affairs, said the group will act as a bridge between government and community, hopefully building trust, especially among Black and brown residents.
“At the end of the day, we’re all public servants, and we work for the community, so I think it’s great they’re active stakeholders in the work that we’re doing.”
White said the relationship between the office and the group works both ways. The board can reach out to Moriarty’s office when it has a concern, or the office can initiate a meeting. Collins said the board can help the office create new policies and help do outreach in the community so residents know what changes are taking place.
Members of the coalition say they support some of the reforms Moriarty has already undertaken, such as looking at alternatives to incarceration for young people. But some members are critical of some decisions she’s made, such as her handling of the Ricky Cobb II case.
“I’m sick and tired of these good intentions from Minnesota culture, from Minnesota politics, that they need to be out of the way,” Minneapolis school board member Adriana Cerrillo said at the news conference. “This is an accountability board, right, that at the end of the day will be waking up politicians to a new reality.”
Both the group and Hennepin County Attorney’s Office say they hope that the group will continue after Mortiaty’s term ends.
“I think it’s a really great way to have an independent group that could be sustainable beyond even just our administration,” White said.
