By Susannah Cullinane, CNN
(CNN) — The Department of Justice is investigating a Minnesota county attorney’s policy that appears to suggest a defendant’s race should be considered during plea deals.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted a letter on X Saturday informing the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office that the department had launched a “racial discrimination pattern and practice investigation” into the policy change.
“Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason. Under the leadership of @AGPamBondi and her team, @TheJusticeDept lawyers will investigate and take action wherever necessary to identify government practices that may run afoul of our civil rights norms,” Dhillon posted Sunday evening.
The policy change took effect April 28, CNN affiliate KARE reported.
The DOJ investigation comes as the Trump administration takes a dramatically different approach to race and civil rights cases. Last week, for example, cabinet secretaries focused on their efforts to purge diversity efforts from government. And the DOJ Civil Rights Division – whose special litigation section will oversee the Minnesota investigation – has been expected to be used to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under the Trump administration.
Under Hennepin County Attorney’s Office “Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants,” which KARE obtained, resolutions should be based on individualized analyses.
“While racial identity and age are not appropriate grounds for departures, proposed resolutions should consider the person charged as a whole person, including their racial identity and age,” the document reads.
“While these factors should not be controlling, they should be part of the overall analysis. Racial disparities harm our community, lead to distrust, and have a negative impact on community safety. Prosecutors should be identifying and addressing racial disparities at decision points, as appropriate,” it says.
The DOJ’s letter to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says it is investigating “whether the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) is engaged in a pattern of practice of depriving persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
The investigation is based on the policy change “directing prosecutors to consider racial identity,” but would also review all the county attorney’s office’s policies and practices “that may involve the illegal consideration of race in prosecutorial decision-making,” it says.
The letter is dated May 2 and signed by Dhillon.
County attorney’s office spokesperson Daniel Borgertpoepping told KARE that the office is aware of the DOJ letter but had not received it.
“Our office will cooperate with any resulting investigation and we’re fully confident our policy complies with the law,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for comment.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division was created in the 1950s to lead the DOJ’s enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.
Dhillon last month said that more than 100 of the division’s 340 attorneys had accepted an offer to federal workers that allows them to resign and be paid through September.
She told conservative commentator Glenn Beck: “En masse, dozens and now over 100 attorneys decided that they’d rather not do what their job requires them to do.”
Dhillon went on to say that the division’s job “is to enforce the federal civil rights laws, not woke ideology.”
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