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Left-wing DA forcing prosecutors to consider ‘racial identity’ in plea deals
Prosecutors in a left-wing Minnesota county attorney’s office will be required to consider defendants’ race when crafting plea deals, according to a local report citing internal documents.
The office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, which recently let a Democrat-connected alleged Tesla vandal off with a slap on the wrist, issued the internal document «Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants.» It directs prosecutors to consider «racial identity and age» as they negotiate plea deals, local Minnestota outlet KARE 11 first reported last week.
«While racial identity and age are not appropriate grounds for departures [from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines], proposed resolutions should consider the person charged as a whole person, including their racial identity and age,» the internal document states, according to the outlet.
«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 continues.
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty speaks in video address. (Hennepin County Attorney’s Office/YouTube)
The policy changes are set to take effect on April 28, according to the outlet. Hennepin County encompasses the city of Minneapolis and is the most populous county in the Democrat-run state.
The «Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants» began circulating in the county attorney’s office last week, KARE 11 reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on Sunday morning regarding the policy update, motivation behind the internal document and whether there are any concerns over the constitutionality of the changes, and is awaiting a response.
The reported plea deal policy comes with constitutionality issues, according to KARE 11, which spoke to local attorneys to weigh in on the change.
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«It both says, ‘Don’t take race into account,’ presumably because of the constitutional problems with taking race into account in addition to potentially political objections, but it simultaneously says this is something you should consider,» Jill Hasday, a University of Minnesota law professor, told the outlet. «And the problem for the drafters of this policy is, once you take race into account, it doesn’t really matter what else you say. The policy is going to be struck down.»
Another local attorney brushed off constitutionality concerns, saying that county prosecutors are directed to steer clear of racial disparities, not create them.
A man in handcuffs (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson) (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
«I definitely think that some people will get worked up about the issue, but I don’t see a constitutional problem, and that’s specifically because the policy tells prosecutors to avoid racial disparities. Not to create them,» University of St. Thomas law professor Rachel Moran told the outlet.
The Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution requires states to govern impartially, meaning that states and official government actions cannot discriminate or treat individuals differently based on characteristics such as race.
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«Our sentencing guidelines that criminal justice professionals use every single day in court say that race should not be used in that calculus. This seems to contradict our sentencing guidelines,» former Washington County, Minnesota, prosecutor Imran Ali told the outlet. «It’s inconsistent not only with our sentencing guidelines, but the policy in and of itself is inconsistent.»
Snow is removed from the entrance of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa, File)
The county attorney’s office told KARE 11 that race is an important factor to consider during plea deal negotiations «because we know unaddressed unconscious biases lead to racial disparities.»
«This policy acknowledges that there are many factors to be considered in negotiations. Each case – and defendant – is unique. Someone’s age may change the likelihood of growth and change. A defendant’s race matters because we know unaddressed unconscious biases lead to racial disparities, which is an unacceptable outcome,» the office told the outlet.
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«Our goal with this policy matches the goal of all our work: to achieve safe, equitable, and just outcomes that center the healing of victims while improving public safety,» the office continued.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Moriarty has been backed by groups tied to money from liberal mega-donor George Soros, who has helped to install scores of soft-on-crime local prosecutors around the nation. She was first elected to the role in 2022 after working for more than two decades as a public defender in the county.
Moriarty most recently made national headlines last week when her office bucked criminally charging a Minnesota state employee suspected of vandalizing six Tesla vehicles and causing $20,000 in damages. Instead, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it would seek «diversion» over charges against Minnesota Department of Human Services data analyst Dylan Bryan Adams. The diversion approach «helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution,» according to the office.
Mugshot of suspected Tesla vandal Dylan Byan Adams (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
Teslas around the country have been targeted for vandalism as its CEO Elon Musk heads up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has been auditing various federal agencies for government overspending, fraud and mismanagement.
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Moriarty and her office also came under fire in October of 2023, when families of murder victims slammed a string of plea deals that had been offered to murder defendants, sparing them time behind bars, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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Sen. Lankford proposes bill to avoid government shutdowns
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the failed vote to pay federal workers amid the government shutdown as they enter their first week without pay.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has canceled votes in the House of Representatives for a fourth straight week as the government shutdown shows no signs of ending.
Johnson’s move is a part of his continued pressure strategy on Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have sunk the GOP’s federal funding plan 12 times since Sept. 19, when the House passed the measure.
Sept. 19 was also the last day the House was in session, meaning lawmakers have been largely in their home districts for over a month.
Republicans are pushing a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending levels through Nov. 21 — called a continuing resolution (CR) — aimed at giving congressional negotiators time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is canceling House votes to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding discussions, have been withholding their support for any spending bill that does not also extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
Johnson’s decision was made public on Friday afternoon during a brief pro forma session in the House. Under rules dictated by the Constitution, the chamber must meet for brief periods every few days called «pro forma» sessions to ensure continuity, even if there are no formal legislative matters at hand.
Pro forma sessions can also be opportunities for lawmakers to give brief speeches or introduce legislation that they otherwise would not have.
Democrats have criticized Johnson’s decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling reporters that House Republicans have been «on vacation for the last four weeks.»
The government is in a shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
Republicans, however, have largely stayed united behind Johnson as the shutdown continues.
«I mean, if all of a sudden the Senate wants to pass a clean CR, I would imagine there are some options on the table that we can pursue to get things back on track,» said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who presided over the House chamber on Friday.
«I would defer, ultimately, to [leadership’s] decisions for the schedule. But right now, I don’t see any sign that we need to change what has been on the counter.»
But there have been several notable defections. Both Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have made their criticism of Johnson’s strategy known publicly for weeks.
«I believe very strongly that it’s the wrong decision,» Kiley told MSNBC earlier this week, adding House lawmakers were not «doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing» aside from figuring out how to end the shutdown.
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Rep. Kevin Kiley, seen in August 2023, has been critical of Johnson’s shutdown strategy. (Scott Strazzante-Pool/Getty Images)
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Multiple House lawmakers have also raised concerns about being out of session on private weekly calls that Johnson holds with members of the GOP conference.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, was the most recent House Republican to suggest the GOP could be in a stronger position if they were back in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.
«I think the longer that we are out, the messaging is starting to get old,» Van Duyne told fellow House Republicans on their Tuesday call.
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The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Western Hemisphere as the U.S. continues to target suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean.
«In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR),» chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday.
«The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,» he added. «These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.»
The Trump administration has ordered a number of strikes in the Caribbean aimed at dismatling and disrupting drug cartels in the region.
Most recently, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday that a strike on a vessel allegedly operated by members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), killed six alleged narco-terrorists.
This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.
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