Oppose the Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act Take Action!
May, 2005

BACKGROUND

Consent decrees are an efficient means for willing parties in a lawsuit to enter into a negotiated agreement without long, drawn-out and expensive court proceedings. Many disability lawsuits against state and local governments, including institutional closure litigation, education litigation and civil rights litigation are settled with consent decrees. In many cases, it takes a number of years before the terms of the consent decree can be met.

CURRENT ACTIVITY IN CONGRESS

The Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act (S. 489/ HR 1229), introduced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO), would impose unfair burdens on people protected by a wide array of federal laws, such as people with disabilities who often rely on consent decrees to ensure that civil rights, health care, education and other laws that protect them are upheld. The proposed legislation would allow a state or local government (the defendant(s)) to file a motion to vacate or modify a consent decree four years after the decree is entered or after the election of a new top state or local official. In order for a consent decree to continue, the original plaintiff(s) would be required to prove again in court that their federal rights continue to be violated, AND a judge would have to rule in their favor, all within 90 days of the state or local governments motion. Not only would this be a difficult process, we might assume that the state and local governments responsible to comply with a consent decree would be tempted to drag their heels in compliance, knowing that they would be likely to have the decree terminated in the near future.

ACTION NEEDED

The week of May 9-13 is a week of national action on the issue, with constituents of a large coalition of organizations making contacts throughout the country. The goal is to have every Member of Congress contacted multiple times in the next week.

Contact your Senators and your Representative TODAY and urge them to oppose the Consent Decree Fairness Act.

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