Prof. Emmanuel Mauleón Quoted in Star Tribune About Move to Dismiss Minneapolis-DOJ Consent Decree

Professor Emmanuel Mauleón was quoted in the Star Tribune about the Trump administration’s move to dismiss a consent-decree agreement between Minneapolis and the Department of Justice that would usher in sweeping reforms to the city’s police department. In a motion filed Wednesday, attorneys from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked the court to dismiss the case, saying “the United States no longer believes that the proposed consent decree would be in the public interest. The United States therefore does not wish to pursue this action any longer and hereby withdraws its support, agreement and concurrence with the Motion for Approval of Settlement.” The DOJ’s action comes just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd‘s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, and the timing was noted and decried by leaders across the city. Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O‘Hara said that they would enact all the reforms laid out in the consent decree even if it‘s dismissed by a judge. Prof. Mauleón said he thinks Trump administration is trying to send a message by timing its decision to the anniversary of Floyd‘s murder. It shows the government is trying to make a political statement that the consent decree was overreach, Mauleón said, even though he thinks the reforms weren’t radical and represented modern best practices in criminology. He said, “I think the message is loud and clear about what the administration thinks police should be doing, and that it looks more like approving of what Derek Chauvin does, and less about what I think were modest reforms.”