The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) received a letter on Monday notifying them that they are the focus of a new Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigation.

“Our office will cooperate with any resulting investigation, and we’re fully confident our policy complies with the law,” wrote an HCAO spokesperson.

The DOJ investigation first broke over the weekend, when the agency posted on the social platform X.

The letter revealed in part that “…the investigation will focus on whether the HCAO engages in the illegal consideration of race in its prosecutorial decision-making.”

Specifically, focusing on a new policy at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office requiring prosecutors to consider the whole person, including their racial identity and age when making plea deals.

“What we are not telling them to do is ‘oh because this person is of a particular race — treat them more harshly or leniently’ — that is not what this policy does at all,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS last week.

Moriarty said instead that the policy is focused on making sure prosecutors’ possible implicit bias doesn’t cloud their judgment.

“This policy is just asking our staff, to check themselves, and think about it coming from different directions, and just to make sure, you know, ’would I be charging this case, with different demographics, would I be offering something different, with different demographics,’ that is simply what it asks our staff to do,” Moriarty said.

“To me, the policy is appropriately walking the line,” said University of St. Thomas law professor Rachel Moran. “The way I read the policy is it’s saying be on the lookout for creating racial disparities, and avoid that.”
 
Hamline University professor David Schulz said he is not surprised that the policy is being challenged.

“It does raise her decision to consider race in terms of plea bargaining and prosecutorial decisions, it does raise constitutional questions,” Schutlz said.

The DOJ plans to meet with the HCAO to determine a roadmap for the timing of the investigation.

Often, if the DOJ finds a violation, they take action to have the government entity eliminate the pattern or practice.