Judge grants DOJ request to further delay Minneapolis consent decree case

U.S. Justice Department attorneys on Thursday won a second 30-day stay on the pending consent decree case between Minneapolis and the federal government.

The consent decree is part of a settlement outlining sweeping reforms to the Minneapolis Police Department. A two-year DOJ investigation launched after the murder of George Floyd found MPD engaged in a pattern of racist and abusive behavior that violated residents’ civil rights.

On Wednesday, attorneys for the DOJ filed a motion asking U.S. Judge Paul Magnuson to extend the court’s stay for another month. Minneapolis City Attorney Kristyn Anderson countered with a scathing rejoinder, arguing that new DOJ leadership has had more than enough time to get “up to speed.”

Federal attorneys argued that two pending motions have not been scheduled for a hearing and extending the stay “would not substantially injure” the city or the outside groups that have asked to be involved. Communities United Against Police Brutality requested to be on the case as an amicus party, and the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis filed a motion to intervene.

“The public interest weighs in favor of the United States receiving an extension of the stay so that leadership within the Department of Justice can more fully understand the current context surrounding this matter,” the filing states.

In response, Anderson filed a memorandum “emphatically” opposing any further delays and pointed to a number of attorneys named on the DOJ motion who participated in the civil rights investigation and subsequent settlement negotiations.

“Certainly, these experienced attorneys can get their leadership up to speed or provide their leadership with any remaining ‘context’ necessary without an additional stay, as attorneys routinely do in cases,” the filing states.

Anderson went on to argue that any further delays would present an unnecessary obstacle to resolving this case and would “substantially injure” the city.

“The United States has not remotely satisfied its heavy burden to obtain any stay, let alone a second stay, of these proceedings,” the filing states.

In the end, Magnuson sided with the DOJ and said in his order that he believed Minneapolis “will not be injured” by an additional stay. The case is now on hold until April 19.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the city for comment and received the following statement on Thursday:

“I concur with City Attorney Anderson’s statements int he City’s memorandum sent to Judge Magnuson. In the meanwhile, as I have said before, I am focused on leading our ongoing reform efforts under the MDHR Settlement Agreement.”

Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette

The conflict over moving forward with the consent decree stems from a DOJ memo issued within days of President Donald Trump’s inauguration ordering a freeze on all civil rights litigation left over from the previous administration.

That memo also directed leadership to be notified of all consent decrees finalized in the last 90 days of former President Joe Biden’s term. Minneapolis approved the terms of the federal consent decree just two weeks before Trump took office.

In his previous term, Trump’s Justice Department blocked a consent decree to reform Chicago’s police department. A former DOJ official who was working on that settlement told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS shortly after the election that Minneapolis should expect much of the same.

Regardless of the outcome of the federal consent decree, Minneapolis is still subject to a court-enforceable agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.