context: Significantly for purposes of the present case, Rufo and Frew establish that a consent decree may appropriately go beyond the bare bones of what a court could order without the local government's consent.
citation_a.signal: see
citation_a.identifier: 502 U.S. 389, 389
citation_a.parenthetical: "But we have no doubt that, to 'save themselves the time, expense, and inevitable risk of litigation,' [the defendants] could settle the dispute over the proper remedy for the constitutional violations that had been found by undertaking to do more than the Constitution itself requires (almost any affirmative decree beyond a directive to obey the Constitution necessarily does that
citation_a.sentence: See Rufo, 502 U.S. at 389, 112 S.Ct. 748 (“But we have no doubt that, to ‘save themselves the time, expense, and inevitable risk of litigation,’ [the defendants] could settle the dispute over the proper remedy for the constitutional violations that had been found by undertaking to do more than the Constitution itself requires (almost any affirmative decree beyond a directive to obey the Constitution necessarily does that), but also more than what a court would have ordered absent the settlement.” (citation omitted)); Frew, 540 U.S. at 437-38, 124 S.Ct. 899 (rejecting argument that consent decree violates the Eleventh Amendment on the ground that “state officials [may agree] to bind state governments to significantly more commitments than what federal law requires”); see also Local No. 93, Int’l Ass’n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 525, 106 S.Ct. 3063, 92 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986) (consent decree may properly “providef] broader relief than the court could have awarded after a trial”). Indeed, that is one reason why consent decrees are a valuable tool for resolving such cases.
citation_b.signal: see also
citation_b.identifier: 478 U.S. 501, 525
citation_b.parenthetical: consent decree may properly "providef] broader relief than the court could have awarded after a trial"
citation_b.sentence: See Rufo, 502 U.S. at 389, 112 S.Ct. 748 (“But we have no doubt that, to ‘save themselves the time, expense, and inevitable risk of litigation,’ [the defendants] could settle the dispute over the proper remedy for the constitutional violations that had been found by undertaking to do more than the Constitution itself requires (almost any affirmative decree beyond a directive to obey the Constitution necessarily does that), but also more than what a court would have ordered absent the settlement.” (citation omitted)); Frew, 540 U.S. at 437-38, 124 S.Ct. 899 (rejecting argument that consent decree violates the Eleventh Amendment on the ground that “state officials [may agree] to bind state governments to significantly more commitments than what federal law requires”); see also Local No. 93, Int’l Ass’n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 525, 106 S.Ct. 3063, 92 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986) (consent decree may properly “providef] broader relief than the court could have awarded after a trial”). Indeed, that is one reason why consent decrees are a valuable tool for resolving such cases.