What is a federal consent decree?
A federal consent decree is an agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and a city government that the city will enforce court-mandated reforms for its police department.
A consent decree is initiated after the federal government conducts a “pattern or practice” investigation and finds constitutional violations in a city’s policing practices. An independent monitor typically tracks the progress of the consent decree, and check-ins are regularly held in federal court to ensure the agreement is being followed.
What is a federal pattern or practice investigation?
These are investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division into unconstitutional policing by a law enforcement agency.
They originated in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, best known as the Clinton Crime Bill, as a result of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers and the subsequent riots.
The crime bill includes a provision that bars law enforcement from engaging “in a pattern or practice” that “deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
President Donald Trump launched the fewest investigations of any president.
President Trump’s administration launched one pattern or practice investigation during his first term, the lowest number by far compared to his four predecessors.
The investigation, launched in 2018, centered on the police department in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Justice Department found that Springfield police systemically used excessive force, which resulted in a consent decree signed in 2022, after President Joe Biden took office.
In April, a few months into his second presidency, Trump issued an executive order giving the Justice Department 60 days to review all consent decrees and then “modify, rescind, or move to conclude such measures that unduly impede the performance of law enforcement functions.”
Project 2025, an influential wishlist for a second Trump term created by the Heritage Foundation, included a recommendation that the Justice Department “promptly and properly” eliminate “all existing consent decrees.”
Trump never officially endorsed the plan from the Washington D.C.-based conservative think tank. But his current and previous administration has employed people who were part of Project 2025.
Biden started many investigations, but signed onto few.
The Biden’s administration opened 12 investigations, but was slow to get to the finish line.
The Biden administration signed onto three consent decrees, including the one in Minneapolis sparked by Minneapolis police’s murder of George Floyd in 2020. His administration also signed the consent decree for Springfield, the investigation that began under Trump.
Only the Springfield consent decree was signed by a federal judge before Biden left office in late January. A judge must sign a consent decree to begin the process of enforcing it.
Obama out-performed all presidents.
Consent decrees truly took off under President Barack Obama. His administration resulted in 25 signed consent decrees during his two terms from 2009 to 2017.
Consent decrees grew slowly after their introduction during Bill Clinton’s administration.
Four consent decrees began under Clinton, who served from 1993 to 2001.
George W. Bush more than doubled Clinton’s number.
Bush, who served two terms after Clinton, began 11 consent decrees.
