Over eight years beginning in 1999, the city of Minneapolis paid $4.8 million in legal settlements related to 122 police misconduct incidents. And police officers and county sheriffs were involved in 29 civilian deaths.
Klobuchar, however, chose not to criminally charge any fatalities involving law enforcement. Instead she routinely put the decision to a grand jury, a process widely criticized for its secrecy and for mostly allowing the police version of events. Klobuchar also didn't take on any of the misconduct claims.
The mother of a black teenager who was shot and killed by police in 2004 begged Klobuchar to file charges against the officer instead of presenting the case to a grand jury.
"The grand jury is a way of hiding that the prosecutor is not giving the full information of guilt to the grand jury," Tahisha Williams Brewer wrote to Klobuchar at the time. "I want this process out in the open, where everyone can observe it and make sure that it is fair to my son."
Klobuchar did not directly respond to Williams Brewer and proceeded to present the case to a grand jury, which found the shooting was justified.
Two years earlier, a riot broke out in the predominantly black Jordan neighborhood in north Minneapolis after police accidentally shot an African-American boy during a drug raid. Anger rose and trust fell quickly between law enforcement and minority communities. A federal mediator quickly arrived to try to calm tensions. Klobuchar didn't get involved.
[...] Diverse voters — a critical bloc for Democrats — and African-Americans in particular are scrutinizing the candidates' positions on race-based issues, including criminal justice. As one of two prosecutors in the race for president — U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris from California is the other — Klobuchar has an extensive record of prosecutions, sentencings and enforcement priorities.
Her legislative record today regarding criminal justice matters could be interpreted as an extension of her past: It shows little leadership on efforts to make the criminal justice system fairer. [...]
When Klobuchar was a county prosecutor — from 1999 until 2007 — Black Lives Matter didn't exist, there weren't body cameras or cellphone videos, and cops were rarely prosecuted. Klobuchar's reliance on grand juries was in step with her peers nationwide, and she positioned herself politically as tough on crime and a friend of the police.
During Klobuchar's campaign for prosecutor in 1998, Minneapolis police union leaders enthusiastically supported her during her campaign kickoff. The union backed her that year and in 2002. Records of how much money the union spent on Klobuchar's behalf in those races no longer exist.
Michelle Gross, the founder of Communities United Against Police Brutality in Minneapolis, said Klobuchar routinely sided with police on issues involving police misconduct. [...]
Klobuchar wouldn't be interviewed for this story, responding instead to emailed questions with written statements. She did not answer questions about the death of Williams Brewer's son or the mother's plea for her to not rely on a grand jury. Klobuchar also didn't address how she handled specific cases of police misconduct or her lack of involvement in federal mediation.
[... In another incident] Police went to Burns' house on a domestic disturbance call and put him in a neck hold. Police said that Burns resisted arrest, was thrashing around and difficult to control. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Klobuchar presented the case to a grand jury, which ruled it a justifiable homicide.
A civil suit filed by Burns' fiancée claimed that the officer used "an unnecessary amount of force." The suit resulted in a $300,000 settlement with the city of Minneapolis.
[...] Her successor as Hennepin County attorney, Mike Freeman, ended the practice of presenting officer-involved shootings to a grand jury in 2016, citing the "accountability and transparency limitations" of the grand jury system. He made the decision after civil rights groups worried a grand jury would opt against charging a Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Jamar Clark in 2015.
[...] When asked about her prosecutorial record on race, Klobuchar quickly highlights her efforts to require police to videotape witness interrogations and change how witnesses identify suspects, and her attempts to diversify her office.
However, the disproportionate number of minorities she sent to state prison isn't a campaign talking point.
Nearly two-thirds of the Hennepin County residents sent to state prison by Klobuchar or her deputies were African-American, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. That came during a period when African-Americans made up about 10 percent of the county's population, according to U.S. Census data.
[...] During a U.S. Senate hearing in 2014 that focused on civil rights in the months after the protests in Ferguson, Klobuchar reinforced her faith in the grand jury system. Her position came despite withering criticism nationwide that the prosecutor in Ferguson had used the grand jury to avoid charging the officer who shot an unarmed man.
[link in orignal, readers are urged to follow it] Finally, at the MPR link are two radio segments which interested readers may choose to listen to. The MPR item contained much material beyond the admittedly lengthy excerpting.
Anytime excerpting is done judgment is involved, so for fairness concerned readers are urged to follow the link given at the start, and read the entire item.