Key facts
- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is closing the Conviction Review Unit.
- The closure is attributed to the suspension of federal grant funding by the Trump administration.
- The unit was established in 2020 to review potential wrongful convictions.
- The Trump administration's Justice Department denied a renewal application for the unit's funding.
- President Donald Trump has previously targeted Minnesota with funding freezes and immigration enforcement actions.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Wednesday the closure of his office's Conviction Review Unit, which examined potential wrongful convictions. Ellison stated that the decision was made following the Trump administration's refusal to renew federal grant funding that supported the program. He explained that current budget constraints prevent absorbing the unit's costs without impacting other essential responsibilities.
The Conviction Review Unit was established in 2020 and began accepting applications in 2021. It initially received a $300,000 grant for its first two years, which was subsequently renewed at $500,000 for an additional two-year period. Ellison indicated that the Trump administration's Justice Department denied the unit's request for further funding renewal.