Hennepin County (MN) Attorney Mary Moriarty to Stop Prosecuting Cases Stemming from Non-Public Safety Traffic Stops Used Primarily to Control and Dominate Law Abiding Black People

From [HERE] Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has announced her office will halt prosecutions stemming from cases involving non-public safety traffic stops. 

This includes minor violations like a broken tail light or expired tabs, with the policy set to take effect on October 15.

In a statement, Moriarty says non-public safety traffic stops, also known as "pretext stops," do not protect the public and can harm marginalized members of the community.

"Speeding, distracted driving, driving under the influence, and blowing through stop signs threatens public safety and kills Minnesotans. We will continue to prosecute felony cases resulting from dangerous driving behavior,” Moriarty said in a statement.

She also claims pretext traffic stops can be a waste of resources and often fail to recover any meaningful evidence.

Moriarty cited data from the Minneapolis Police Department that shows in equipment and moving violations from 2017 and 2018, a gun was recovered less than 0.5% of the time.

"Why would we spend limited time and money on a tactic that fails 99 times out of a hundred?” she added. 

At a press conference Wednesday, Moriarty told FOX 9 there are exceptions to the police if the case presents a "compelling public safety interest,” citing an example where a gun that was recovered in the suburbs during a traffic stop was linked to a shooting in Minneapolis.

Prosecutors in Ramsey County made a similar policy change in 2021, following the deaths of Philando Castile and Daunte Wright. [MORE]