MINNEAPOLIS – Voters in Minnesota’s largest county elected Mary Moriarty as their top prosecutor after she promised to bring change to a community where George Floyd was murdered and a nationwide bill about racism in the criminal justice system was born.

After Moriarty, a former public defender, became Hennepin’s county attorney in January 2023, she vowed to make police more accountable and change the culture of an office she says had long overemphasized punishment without addressing the root causes of crime.

Her election came as the Minneapolis area was still reeling from the 2020 killing of Floyd by a police officer and the resulting protests and prosecution of the police. Moriarty’s two immediate predecessors had been in office for a combined 31 years, and her promises of dramatic change were supported by the state Democratic Party, community leaders and voters hungry for a new approach.

But just 18 months after starting his four-year term, Moriarty is facing a fierce backlash, even among some former supporters. Her critics have questioned her decision to seek lighter sentences for violent crimes in some cases and to divert more people to programs rather than prison.

Moriarty has had public ghosts with the state’s Democratic governor, and in some cases she has been caught between groups with differing political views.

She drew strong criticism from police, local officials and some progressive activists after she accused a white state trooper of killing a black man last summer, only to later reverse course and drop the fees.

Leaders with the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association had ran a high-profile campaign calls on Tim Walz, the state’s Democratic governor, to reassign the prosecutor away from Moriarty. This month, the association filed an ethics complaint against Moriarty, alleging she knowingly made false statements about the case, an allegation she has denied.

Even as Moriarty remains committed to her approach, she acknowledged that some of her initial support has waned.

“There have been times I’ve asked myself, is this the city where George Floyd was murdered? But at the same time, if I look historically, every time there’s been progress, there’s always backlash,” Moriarty said. “It’s no different with this than when people have previously tried to change systems that have been in place for decades.”

Moriarty was chosen from among a wave of progressive district attorneys who took office after the killing of Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. In Oregon, voters in May replaced a progressive district attorney with a centrist candidate backed by police groups that vowed to be tough on crime in the Portland area amid frustrations over violence linked to homelessness and drug use. The same month in California’s Bay Area, Alameda County supervisors set a recall election for a district attorney who ran on a platform of criminal rehabilitation and police accountability.

The crop of progressive prosecutors promised a more thoughtful approach to holding people accountable, but for many it’s been a challenge that has left them vulnerable to complaints that they have endangered public safety.

Moriarty, a former chief defender for the county, was elected over a former judge with nearly 58% of the vote.

Some of her former supporters now say her approach has gone too far. Matt Pelikan, a former Democratic candidate for attorney general who donated to Moriarty’s campaign, said the office under Moriarty has taken a permissive approach, resulting in some criminals being released from custody, only to quickly reoffend.

“I supported Mary because I believed, and I still believe, that the old formula didn’t work,” Pelikan said. “But I think Mary has gone further and not followed the goals of that office, which are safety and justice.”

Under Moriarty’s leadership, more cases have been subject to “diversion,” which often means someone who has committed a crime is referred to a program they must complete so they can avoid prison.

Jared Mollenkof, who worked with Moriarty as a public defender, said she has made juvenile prosecutions fairer by restructuring the county’s approach to prosecuting juveniles, emphasizing alternatives to prison.

“I think there’s been a real refocus to allow prosecutors to make offers that were previously unavailable to them, either because of office policy or just to monitor perceptions of what was acceptable,” Mollenkof said.

In 2023, the number of juvenile cases diverted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office increased by 36% compared to 2022. For adult cases, the number increased by 81% in 2023 compared to 2022.

Moriarty’s office said initial data shows that those who have participated in diversion programs are less likely to relapse than those who are not diverted. Critics say Moriarty has downplayed the concerns of crime victims and damaged public confidence in her office.

Martha Holton Dimick, the former judge whom Moriarty defeated in 2022, said Moriarty makes decisions based on complaints she developed as a career public defender and battles with attorneys from the same office she now leads.

“I told people on the campaign trail that this was her revenge tour,” Dimick said.

In an interview, Mike Freeman, Moriarty’s predecessor, declined to speak in detail about Moriarty’s performance but said he thinks some of her juvenile justice initiatives have “gone too far” and that the office had lost a number of experienced attorneys since she was elected.

One of those attorneys is Gretchen Gray-Larson, who worked in the county attorney’s office for 33 years. She said she opposes “draconian” drug laws and favors a progressive approach to prosecution. But last July she decided to retire, partly because she didn’t want to work for Moriarty. She said her colleagues who stayed have been overwhelmed by the departures and a suffocating atmosphere.

“People are afraid to talk,” Gray-Larson said. “Morale is terrible.”

According to internal personnel figures obtained in late June, Larson is one of more than 150 employees who have left their positions in the office since the month Moriarty was elected. Total employment in the office had increased by 21 employees, although that figure includes non-lawyer administrative positions.

Now, Moriarty said she is delivering changes that have forced some prosecutors to interrogate uncomfortable truths about past failures.

“This is true for many prosecutors who have served for decades, it is sometimes difficult to look at your career and what you have done and admit that you have done harm.”

Among Moriarty’s supporters, there is a sense that she has been cornered by entrenched leaders at the city and state levels.

Chaz Neal, 47, grew up in Minneapolis and until a few months ago lived in one of the city’s higher crime areas. Neal is black, politically conservative, and has a criminal record. Despite his right-wing views, he supports Moriarty because of his experiences navigating the criminal justice system.

“I feel like if people look at her policies and read them, they’ll see that she’s for the people,” Neal said.

Moriarty said she will run for re-election and plans to continue pushing for change, regardless of any backlash.

“There are people who have been critical, who are concerned about their own political ambitions and who are concerned about which group they think can help them,” Moriarty said. “I have not done it.”