Rachel Moran, professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, talked with KARE 11 about the consent decree for the Minneapolis Police Department being dismissed.
Host: The words like consent decree could be a little bit confusing. What does that mean? Tell us what a consent decree is and why, in your opinion, this news today matters.
Moran: A consent decree is kind of a fancy word for a court order. Basically, it’s called consent because the two parties, which in this case would have been the city of Minneapolis and the U.S. Department of Justice, are agreeing together to enter into a settlement where the city has to make changes to how it conducts its policing, and a judge would have been overseeing that.
Host: And in Minneapolis, we have kind of two going on at the same time. There’s an agreement with the state that looks at the Minneapolis Police Department and its patterns and practices, and that is already in effect. This is the federal side ordered by the Biden administration for the Department of Justice to oversee our police department. But now, as you know, we have a new president and a new Department of Justice, and they make news today saying they motion to get rid of this idea that they are going to oversee our police department. Do I have that right?
Moran: That’s basically right. Right before President Biden left, the parties had come to an agreement that they would let a judge oversee required changes to the police department. And then when President Trump came in, he put a pause on that.