Hollywood has taught entire generations that if you’re arrested in the U.S., you have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. But many people may not realize that unless you can pay for a lawyer, you likely won’t meet with one until your first court appearance.

Those early hours are critical to a case, according to the Legal Rights Center, a nonprofit Minneapolis law firm. It launched a hotline this year to help fill this gap in Hennepin County. The hotline is the first of its kind in the state.

For more, MPR News host Nina Moini talked with Marecca Vertin, who led the project as the Legal Rights Center’s community defense and access to justice attorney.

Supporters of what's become known as the "Minnesota 15" are expected to gather in Minneapolis for a protest Wednesday afternoon ahead of a court hearing for 14 of the defendants.

The 15th defendant, Kyle Wagner, is being held in Michigan on separate federal charges and is not expected in court today.

Federal prosecutors accuse the 15 Twin Cities residents of conspiring to interfere with immigration enforcement during the large-scale federal immigration operation in Minnesota earlier this year.

Protesters are calling for the charges to be dropped.

MPR News reporter Sarah Thamer joined Minnesota Now from outside the federal courthouse with the latest.

Starting July 1, Minnesota's counties can start a long, and some say overdue, makeover of the technological systems and online databases that keep their services running. The state legislature approved $90 million this year to help sluggish computer systems, some dating back to the 1980s, get a little zippier.

Paul Verette is director of the Minnesota Association of County Social Service Administrators. He joined MPR News host Nina Moini to explain how this transformation is going to work and what the modernization means to county workers as well as those who benefit from county programs.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday states can ban transgender girls and women from playing on girls sports teams in schools and universities. Twenty-seven states have enacted such bans. Minnesota is not one of them. As of now, transgender girls can play on girl’s teams in Minnesota schools.

For more on the ruling’s impact, MPR News host Nina Moini talked with Jess Braverman, legal director of the advocacy group Gender Justice.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship Tuesday morning in a 6-3 opinion. It ruled President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizenship to children of some immigrant parents violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. We'll hear reaction from Minnesota.

A new report says police have violated the constitution in several cities where the federal government dropped reforms. We'll find out what it says about Minneapolis.

Congress passed a bipartisan bill aimed at making housing more affordable. We'll talk to a Minnesota housing advocate about what impact it could have here.

June is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. We'll meet a health expert who is visiting all 87 Minnesota counties to share information on dementia.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Time” by Willem Dafoe Fan Club and our Song of the Day was “TWEast” by Dandelion Delivery Service.

It's expected to be a dangerously hot and humid day for Minnesotans in central and southern parts of the state — including the Twin Cities. Our chief meteorologist Ben Cathey will have what you need to know to take care of yourself in this weather.

A Minnesota-based organization supporting children with disabilities is raising concern about the Trump administration's recent announcement to move responsibility over special education away from the Department of Education.

And we'll hear from one Venezuelan Minnesotan working to organize local relief efforts for people in her home country affected by the massive earthquakes.

Plus, a conversation with Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve on making it to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Crystalline” by Alexander Natalie and our Song of the Day was “Days” by The Drums.

In May of 2025, the Department of Justice dropped its oversight of the Minneapolis Police Department. The DOJ said it no longer believed that the consent decree, or court-ordered reforms, were necessary.

A new report from the ACLU has found otherwise. It looked at Minneapolis police and six other police departments across the country who also had consent decrees dropped and found unconstitutional policing continued.

One of the authors of the report, Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, spoke to MPR News host Nina Moini about it.

President Donald Trump has neither signed nor vetoed a massive housing bill that recently passed Congress with extensive bipartisan support. He said on Monday it's a “yawn” compared to a voter ID law he’s pressuring Congress to approve. And he said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll sign the 21st Century Road to Housing Act.

If the president hasn't acted 10 days after he receives the bill and Congress is in session, it will become law without his signature.

The bill is a package of more than 50 smaller ones. Some critics say it doesn’t do enough to support low-income renters. Others say it creates too many new programs and regulations.

Even housing advocates are still trying to absorb all that’s in this bill, and how it could reach the people they want to help.

Elizabeth Glidden is deputy executive director of the non-profit Minnesota Housing Partnership. She joined MPR News host Nina Moini to dive into the details about the bill and talk about its significance.