The Trump administration’s Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis-area Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for policy to consider race in giving plea deals to defendants.

“This week we @TheJusticeDept @CivilRights opened a racial discrimination pattern and practice investigation into Hennepin County, Minnesota’s recently announced policy of taking race into consideration in plea offers,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon posted Saturday on X, linking to the email sent to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

The investigation homes in on Moriarty’s “Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants,” which implores her prosecutors’ “overall analysis” to consider “racial identity” when cutting plea deals, “identifying and addressing racial disparities at decision points, as appropriate.”

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