Olson: Ramsey County Attorney John Choi provides the blueprint for progressive prosecution

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When Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in September that she would no longer prosecute low-level traffic stops, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi was standing to her right.

By supporting his fellow prosecutor, Choi was giving his imprimatur to the decision and, perhaps, trying to quiet the swell of criticism that he knew Moriarty would face.

Moriarty and Choi are like the fire and ice of progressive Twin Cities prosecutors. Hennepin County is the busiest courthouse in the state, so Moriarty’s position is by definition higher profile. Her brusque, combative style makes her every word a point of public division.

That’s not Choi’s style. Since he was sworn in as county attorney in 2011, Choi’s been building a long list of progressive accomplishments without leaving a trail of angry enemies.

Take those traffic stops, for example. In the days after Moriarty’s announcement, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt joined with police chiefs at Minneapolis City Hall for a public show of dissent to denounce the decision.

In September 2021, Choi announced that Ramsey County would not prosecute charges that arose from low-level traffic stops. Instead, he announced he would send warning letters, which contained information about available financial assistance programs for repairs of equipment violations, such as broken lights, that led to such stops.

Choi’s decision came years after his office prosecuted the St. Anthony officer who fatally shot Philando Castile in 2016 during a Falcon Heights traffic stop for a nonworking brake light.

At Moriarty’s news conference, Choi said the traffic stop decision was the most criticized of his career but that years of study and data showed that ending the stops has not negatively impacted public safety.

Equally telling is that the policy has the support of Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, the outspoken veteran lawman who has zero qualms about publicly voicing his dissent.

Fletcher said he and Choi haven’t had any conflicts over the traffic stop policy. To the contrary, Fletcher touts his partnership with Choi on another front: driving down the rate of auto theft and dangerous carjackings in Ramsey County.

Fletcher emphasized that Ramsey County deputies are looking for moving violations, not equipment problems.

Not that Fletcher’s and Choi’s partnership was always so simpatico.

In 2021, Choi created the Collaborative Review Team system with a prosecutor, public defender and a community member. The team’s aim was to look into the facts of a juvenile offender’s life to determine whether there was an alternative to prosecution.

The sheriff was initially a leading critic of Choi, accusing him of “making an end run around the legal system” on juvenile matters.

Both men credit Fletcher’s wife, Kris Fletcher, for pushing them to work out their differences over dinner in late 2022. They went to Sakura Restaurant & Bar, a St. Paul fixture across from City Hall, and agreed to make it work.

Their common ground?

“I’ve got John to agree to a concept: We have to catch them before we can help them,” Fletcher said. “That’s really the middle ground that we’re at. There’s a lot of prosecutors that don’t believe that.”

Now they both sound warm and fuzzy when they speak about the other. “I really find John really likable,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said he and Choi focus on things they can do to make a difference, that they’re constantly communicating and that the prosecutor is a good listener.

Choi’s take: “Sheriff Fletcher and I are very close. We got through this moment.”

Choi’s been reform-minded since being elected. One of his first moves as county attorney was to announce he would not prosecute teens who had been prostituted, that they would be treated under the “Safe Harbor” approach as children in need of protection.

At the time of the Safe Harbor move, there were only two beds for such kids in Minnesota. The Legislature followed with support and now there are nearly 100 beds aimed at helping kids who’ve been trafficked.

More recently, he’s publicly pushed to end cash bail and replace it with a system not based on wealth.

Asked how he manages to both push for dramatic change and maintain smooth relationships, Choi said, “I show up with grace and humility. I don’t come to the table believing that I have to win the argument.”

As to whether he considers himself a progressive prosecutor, Choi said yes, if that means being forward-thinking and also “prioritizing reforms that are community-based and not being afraid and to lean forward into conversations around race … and doing things in a different way … that’s what defines someone who is innovative.”

“I don’t think that good elected officials need to be thinking about the next thing, I think that’s actually more dangerous or dubious,” Choi said.