Donald Trump has ordered the civil rights division of the Justice Department to freeze all actions on current cases.
A memo to Kathleen Wolfe, Trump’s designated supervisor of the civil rights division, ordered her to ensure that attorneys in the division do not file “any new complaints, motions to intervene, agreed-upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest.”
The memo was sent by Chad Mizelle, the department’s new chief of staff. It says that the freeze is being implemented to be “consistent with the Department’s goal of ensuring that the Federal Government speaks with one voice in its view of the law and to ensure that the President’s appointees or designees have the opportunity to decide whether to initiate any new cases.”
Wolfe was informed in a second memo that she should notify the Justice Department of any consent decrees signed in the last 90 days, including agreements with the police departments in Minneapolis, Memphis, and Louisville. Those decrees are now in jeopardy, along with a dozen other investigations into police departments across the nation.
In December, the department announced a federal oversight agreement with the city of Louisville, where the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor helped spark nationwide justice protests. In early January, the civil rights division forged a police accountability plan with city leaders in Minneapolis, where the police killing of George Floyd galvanized the nationwide protests even further. Neither has been approved by a judge.
Trump did not pursue similar police accountability investigations during his first term in the White House. As a candidate in this year’s election, he clearly signaled his intent to abandon Biden’s use of federal power to try to curb excessive police force and racial discrimination. […]
— Read More: pjmedia.com
