ACLU SEEKS TO INTERVENE IN CONSENT DECREE.Byline: Alexa Haussler Staff Writer Fearing a George W. Bush administration will fail to enforce a police reform consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. , civil rights groups asked a judge Monday to join the agreement between the federal government and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to wipe out police corruption Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct sometimes involving political corruption, and generally designed to gain a financial or political benefit for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest. . The American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, filed a motion in federal court to intervene in the federal consent decree, which was approved by the City Council in September after months of debate and negotiations. Deputy Mayor Kelly Martin said the city will oppose the ACLU ACLU: see American Civil Liberties Union. request because the consent decree has been set and such intervention is not needed. ``This will be an order of a U.S. District Court judge with lifetime tenure. I think judges tend to enforce their own orders,'' Martin said. Plus, she said, the city plans to spend $10 million on a monitor for the progress of reform, and the city will publish quarterly reports from the monitor. ``It is no longer just in the hands of the Justice Department,'' she said. President-elect Bush, however, has said he opposes federal intervention into local police matters, which the ACLU said bodes poorly for a Los Angeles consent decree. ``Without external pressure for reform, a return to business as usual is all but guaranteed,'' said Ramona Ripston, Southern California ACLU executive director. The consent decree came after the U.S. Justice Department threatened to sue the city for what it called a pattern of police discrimination, abuse and corruption. The Justice Department criticized the department for the Rampart Division corruption scandal and for failing to enact recommendations by earlier panels, including the Christopher Commission after the Rodney King case. ``All we are saying is we want the letter and the spirit of the consent decree enforced. It becomes a worthless piece of paper, another empty promise, unless the citizens of this community can be ensured that it will be vigorously enforced,'' said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California. University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, an attorney who helped create the city's new charter, will serve as co-counsel on the case with the ACLU. ``The reality is that LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. is terribly resistant to change,'' Chemerinsky said. ``The only way there is going to be change is if there is an enforced consent decree.'' |
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