One day after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced his Justice Department had launched a civil investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.

The timing was notable beyond taking place after the Chauvin verdict: Just days earlier, Garland rescinded a memo issued by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions that limited the use of consent decrees, a tool that was previously wielded by the Justice Department to oversee local police departments with troubling practices.