WASHINGTON (AP) – The new leadership of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department has implemented a significant shift in policy by placing a freeze on civil rights litigation and suggesting a potential reassessment of police reform agreements established by the Biden administration. This development comes to light through two memos that were acquired by the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The memos indicate that attorneys within the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division have been instructed to refrain from filing any new complaints, amicus briefs, or other specified court documents until further notice. This directive is a clear indication of the administration's intent to re-evaluate existing civil rights initiatives initiated by the previous administration.
Furthermore, in another memo, attorneys were asked to inform leadership about any settlements or consent decrees—legally binding agreements aimed at reforming police practices—that were finalized by the Biden administration in the past 90 days. It was noted that the new administration may wish to reconsider these agreements, hinting at the possibility of abandoning two significant consent decrees that were finalized shortly before President Biden left office. These decrees pertain to police reform in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, following investigations that exposed civil rights violations by local police forces.
The agreement in Minneapolis was recently approved by the Minneapolis City Council, which aims to reform the city’s police training and use-of-force policies in response to the tragic murder of George Floyd in 2020. Similarly, the Justice Department had announced an agreement with Louisville intended to overhaul the police force following the 2020 fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor and concerning the treatment of protesters during that period.
The memos outlining these directives were sent by Chad Mizelle, the new chief of staff, which suggests that substantial changes are anticipated in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division under Trump’s administration. The anticipated leader of this division, Harmeet Dhillon, is known to be a conservative attorney who made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican National Committee chair last year.
During Trump's first term, the Justice Department reduced the use of consent decrees as part of its broader strategy, and it is expected that the new administration will further reshape the departmental priorities regarding civil rights again, reflecting a conservative approach to policing and civil rights enforcement.
The specific duration of the current “litigation freeze” remains unknown. According to the memos, this halt is justified by the need to ensure that “the federal government speaks with one voice” regarding its legal perspectives and to give the President's appointees adequate time to determine whether to initiate new cases.
