Garland rolls back Trump-era curbs on forcing local police reforms
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rescinded a Trump-era near-ban on the Justice Department’s use of consent decrees to force the restructuring of local law enforcement agencies, signaling a push from the Biden administration to resume use of the tactic amid a continued outcry from liberal groups about abusive policing.
In a four-page memo to Justice Department staffers, Garland said he would rescind the 2018 order from then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that aimed to drastically limit the use of the settlement agreements with local police agencies.
Under Garland’s memo, Justice Department lawyers who are leading the litigation, including the assistant attorneys general or U.S. attorneys, will be authorized to approve the consent decrees.
“It is done so because they are the Department officials most familiar with and best able to assess each particular case,” Garland wrote.
The move comes amid the high-profile trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who is facing charges of murder and manslaughter in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man who died while being arrested. Chauvin put a knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while pinning him to the ground.
Mass protests ensued in cities across the country, led by the Black Lives Matter movement, which has pushed to “defund the police.” Garland and several of his potential deputies, who await Senate approval of their nominations, have promised to bring renewed focus to curbing abusive policing, although they have stopped short of supporting the idea of defunding police departments.
The Justice Department can use consent decrees with local jurisdictions to avoid litigation on matters including policing, education, fair housing, sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and voting rights. In some cases, a monitor is appointed to oversee compliance, and the agreements typically allow for federal enforcement if the terms are breached by localities.
During the Obama administration, the Justice Department entered into consent decrees 15 times with local police agencies, including in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, Cleveland and New Orleans. The George W. Bush administration used consent decrees three times.
But Sessions sought to severely restrict their use, saying they harm morale in police departments. He issued his order in one of his final acts in office before being fired by President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration did not enter into a single consent decree in its four years, and it moved to undermine existing agreements, including pulling out of a pact the Justice Department had been on the verge of signing with Chicago police in 2017.