In a letter, republican republican senator Bernie Moreno called on the novel prosecutor general PAM Bondi to review and probably cancellation of consent decrees throughout the country. Agreements between federal and local agencies present a plan taken into account by the Court regarding some kind of repair activities-on the example of the acron, he agreed to the decree in 2014 in connection with its water systems.
But the type of contracts on which Moreno focuses, related to federal supervision over police agencies.
“Law enforcement officers must be able to perform their work and enforce the law without stopping them by politicians,” said Moreno in a press release. “That is why I am calling the Prosecutor General Bondi to finally examine the rules of the consent decree again, as we saw in Cleveland to help restore public security.”
Taking steps to withdraw from the decrees of the police consent was one of the boards of the Heritage Foundation Project plan 2025. Similarly, America First Policy Institute, in which Bondi managed the legal team, including Opposition of consent decrees In your political program.
Decree of the state of consent
According to the group of justice reforms in criminal matters Vera There are almost 30 decrees of consent between federal agencies and police agencies or amendments throughout the country. The Cleveland consent decree has existed since 2015, by sailing the department has changed the principles of strength and improve training for officers, among others. According to the federal monitor report submitted at the end of 2023, Cleveland was Still incompatible On several fronts.
Although Moreno complains in his letter for the duration of this contract, he existed Others that lasted longer Including in Los Angeles, Detroit and Oakland.
Consent decrees act like many other federal matters that cause a settlement. The List of Moreno claims that earlier administrations have not fully closed these settlements, so the Bondi Department of Justice may scrape the decrees of consent, simply submitting to the court for voluntary dismissal of the case.
His letter calls the Bondi office to review the federal document and inform him about any cities in this situation. Moreno adds that she wants her office to formally submit her position on voluntary release and provide all political documents related to this decision.
Can they do this?
Robert Gresham, lawyer for civil rights at the Cochran law firm in Cleveland, explained that the US Department of Justice is usually a party responsible for enforcing the decree of consent. For this reason, he admitted that not much could stop federal officials from refusing to enforce existing consent decrees.
“To be honest, if I’m honest, it’s as simple as the Department of Justice, deciding not to enforce them,” he said.
For Gresham, it seems that Moreno is trying to direct Bondi to a legal backdoor, allowing her to annul the decrees of decrees once and for all, and not specifying that the departments met the agreed demands, but claiming that the documents were not properly submitted.
“According to my estimates, they found technicality,” he said, “this would allow them to hide behind procedural problems.”
Greshham argued that lawyers, like the police, are part of the profession that is based on the trust of society. In both cases, the ethical expiry of a person undermines the reputation of the profession as a whole and worries that the Trump administration pulls the plug -in to the responsible efforts.
“He certainly sends a message that this administration is simple and blindly behind law enforcement agencies, regardless of their behavior,” added Gresham.
Professor of the Law University of Capital Mark Brown repeated these fears and argued that the general withdrawal of consent decrees would make the Department of Justice look like a “purely political actor.”
“To be honest, the Department of Justice quite often changes positions with the change of administration. This is happening. But to do it in bulk, he sends a terrible message to the American people and this really tightens their credibility. “
Although Brown agreed that it was not much to stop DJ officials from simply refusing to enforce decrees, he argued that their scrapping may not be as plain as Moreno claims. He noted that third parties – like prisoners in the case of a correction consent decree – could submit a request to enforce changes.
Herring reporter Ohio Capital Journal Nick Evans on x Or on BlueSky.
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