First on Fox: A Kentucky judge refused to immediately sign off on a police reform consent decree forged by the Justice Department and the city of Louisville during a hearing that a courtroom participant said was rushed by the Biden administration to upset President-elect Donald Trump. Told the effort made.
Monday’s hearing was one of at least three examples of ongoing litigation in which the Biden administration is seeking to enact progressive policing policies in its 11th hour in a difficult-to-reverse manner.
Oversight Project attorney Kyle Brosnan said in an interview Tuesday that federal Judge Benjamin Beaton declined to become a “rubber stamp” for a 240-page reform plan inspired by the 2020 police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Taylor was killed in a police shooting after Louisville officers sought to serve a drug warrant at the home of her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, when her boyfriend fired a “warning shot” through the door and Officer Jonathan Mattingly. Got injured in the leg.
Watchdog demands 11th-hour halt to Biden’s attempt to ‘handcuff’ KY police over Breonna Taylor incident
Biden and Garland (Getty)
Brosnan said consent decrees differ from other legal agreements – in that they cannot be overturned merely by a presidential order or a change of heart by one of the parties involved.
Brosnan described the Kentucky decree’s reforms as “woke,” while his colleague, Oversight Project executive director Mike Howell, previously called them “a laundry list of BLM-type standards” that the left has long been demanding.
The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund joined the amicus brief, as Brosnan said LELDF leader Jason Johnson has “first-hand experience” with consent decrees following the Freddie Gray riots and the ensuing investigation.
The consent decree alleged a pattern or practice of racial bias in Louisville policing, including traffic stops, sexual assault investigations or use of force.
Brosnan explained, “And the judge looked at each of those topics and said, ‘Okay, what’s your basis for this?’
In court, DOJ attorney Paul Killebrew was asked for data on deadly force incidents to better understand the patterns alleged in the consent decree.
Killebrew reportedly replied that the DOJ could not provide such information in order to “maintain leverage” in any future lawsuit.
This dynamic was a theme during the marathon hearings, according to Brosnan.
However, this was not the only opportunity for the DOJ and the city to convince Beaton to sign his decree, as the judge gave until Friday to file additional documents, but timing is of the essence.
While Inauguration Day is not necessarily a deadline for the Biden DOJ to approve the decree, it won’t be long before they run out of time, Brosnan said.
He compared the dynamic to how Trump – early in his first term – fired Obama-holdover acting DOJ head Sally Yates for refusing to enforce his “Muslim ban.”
Proposed Chicago police resource cuts could send city to court under consent decree, officials warn
Outgoing administration officials at various levels will remain in “acting” roles until the Senate confirms incoming nominees.
Therefore, the Biden DOJ effectively has until Pamela Bondi as Attorney General or Harmeet Dhillon as head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division are in office to get his order across the finish line, the lawyer said. .
Brosnan said there are at least two other police reform consent decrees that are reaching matriculation through the legal process: in Maryland and Minnesota.
On January 6, the DOJ reached a settlement with Minneapolis – which still requires court approval – to reform the department’s “unconstitutional and unlawful practices” allegedly against the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 14th Amendment.
In October 2024, the feds sued the Maryland State Police Department, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act.
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Side-by-side with President-elect Donald Trump and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Getty Images)
“The United States claims that the MDSP violated Title VII when it used a certain physical fitness test and a certain written examination to hire entry-level soldiers because the tests selected more female and African American soldiers than others. -American applicants were declared ineligible and not relevant to the job,” a court said. Reads the document.
Maryland police dispute the allegations.
Monday’s petitioners noted how the previous Trump administration began with then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions re-examining Obama-era consent decrees.
“It is within your rights as a judge to brake and wait and see what the new administration has to say here,” Brosnan said in describing his testimony to Beaton.
“Trump has the right not to be handcuffed by the Biden administration – he won overall because of urban America’s crime problems.”
Fox News Digital contacted the DOJ for comment.
