[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 489 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 489

  To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to limit the 
     duration of Federal consent decrees to which State and local 
            governments are a party, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2005

  Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Kyl, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to limit the 
     duration of Federal consent decrees to which State and local 
            governments are a party, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Consent Decree Fairness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) Consent decrees are for remedying violations of rights, 
        and they should not be used to advance any policy extraneous to 
        the protection of those rights.
            (2) Consent decrees are also for protecting the party who 
        faces injury and should not be expanded to apply to parties not 
        involved in the litigation.
            (3) In structuring consent decrees, courts should take into 
        account the interests of State and local governments in 
        managing their own affairs.
            (4) Consent decrees should be structured to give due 
        deference to the policy judgments of State and local officials 
        as to how to obey the law.
            (5) Whenever possible, courts should not impose consent 
        decrees that require technically complex and evolving policy 
        choices, especially in the absence of judicially discoverable 
        and manageable standards.
            (6) Consent decrees should not be unlimited, but should 
        contain an explicit and realistic strategy for ending court 
        supervision.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CONSENT DECREES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec.  1660. Consent decrees
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `consent decree'--
                    ``(A) means any final order imposing injunctive 
                relief against a State or local government or a State 
                or local official sued in their official capacity 
                entered by a court of the United States that is based 
                in whole or part upon the consent or acquiescence of 
                the parties;
                    ``(B) does not include private settlements; and
                    ``(C) does not include any final order entered by a 
                court of the United States to implement a plan to end 
                segregation of students or faculty on the basis of 
                race, color, or national origin in elementary schools, 
                secondary schools, or institutions of higher education.
            ``(2) The term `special master' means any person, 
        regardless of title or description given by the court, who is 
        appointed by a court of the United States under rule 53 of the 
        Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 48 of the Federal Rules 
        of Appellate Procedure, or similar Federal law.
    ``(b) Limitation on Duration.--
            ``(1) In general.--A State or local government or a State 
        or local official, or their successor, sued in their official 
        capacity may file a motion under this section with the court 
        that entered a consent decree to modify or vacate the consent 
        decree upon the earlier of--
                    ``(A) 4 years after a consent decree is originally 
                entered by a court of the United States, regardless if 
                the consent decree has been modified or reentered 
                during that period; or
                    ``(B) in the case of a civil action in which--
                            ``(i) a State is a party (including an 
                        action in which a local government is also a 
                        party), the expiration of the term of office of 
                        the highest elected State official who 
                        authorized the consent of the State in the 
                        consent decree; or
                            ``(ii) a local government is a party and 
                        the State encompassing the local government is 
                        not a party, the expiration of the term of 
                        office of the highest elected local government 
                        official who authorized the consent of the 
                        local government to the consent decree.
            ``(2) Burden of proof.--With respect to any motion filed 
        under paragraph (1), the burden of proof shall be on the party 
        who originally filed the civil action to demonstrate that the 
        continued enforcement of a consent decree is necessary to 
        uphold a Federal right.
            ``(3) Ruling on motion.--Not later than 90 days after the 
        filing of a motion under this subsection, the court shall rule 
        on the motion.
            ``(4) Effect pending ruling.--If the court has not ruled on 
        the motion to modify or vacate the consent decree during the 
        90-day period described under paragraph (3), the consent decree 
        shall have no force or effect for the period beginning on the 
        date following that 90-day period through the date on which the 
        court enters a ruling on the motion.
    ``(c) Special Masters.--
            ``(1) Compensation.--The compensation to be allowed to a 
        special master overseeing any consent decree under this section 
        shall be based on an hourly rate not greater than the hourly 
        rate established under section 3006A of title 18, for payment 
        of court-appointed counsel, plus costs reasonably incurred by 
        the special master.
            ``(2) Termination.--In no event shall the appointment of a 
        special master extend beyond the termination of the relief 
        granted in the consent decree.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``Sec.  1660. Consent decrees.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act and apply to all consent decrees regardless of--
            (1) the date on which the final order of a consent decree 
        is entered; or
            (2) whether any relief has been obtained under a consent 
        decree before the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>