US judge approves Baltimore police reform, refuses to delay

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — A U.S. judge has approved an agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice to overhaul the Baltimore police department.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar signed the agreement on Friday, one day after a public hearing to solicit comments from city residents.

Bredar called the plan "comprehensive, detailed and precise," and wrote in the order that it "is in the public interest" to approve it.

Bredar earlier this week denied a request from the Justice Department to postpone Thursday's public hearing, and on Friday denied a second request to delay signing off on the agreement to give new leadership time to review it. The Justice Department has indicated that it intends to review all existing consent decrees to determine whether they will hinder efforts to fight violence crime.

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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/096ce1abe8f74bc49d976faa1075bb20/justice-department-cites-baltimore-police-reform-concerns

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By JULIET LINDERMAN
Apr. 7, 2017 12:34 PM EDT

[riversedge]

1. Judge Approves Baltimore Police Reform Deal Over Objections Of Trump DOJ

Sessions needs to keep his nose out of these local reforms.




04/07/2017 12:06 pm ET | Updated 2 hours ago
Judge Approves Baltimore Police Reform Deal Over Objections Of Trump DOJ

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/baltimore-police-reform-trump-doj_us_58e7b05de4b05413bfe26b39

“The time for negotiating the agreement is over.”
By Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON ― A federal judge in Baltimore on Friday approved a deal struck between the city and the Justice Department in the final days of the Obama administration to reform Baltimore’s troubled police department, denying a request from the Trump administration to delay approval of the agreement.

U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar approved the deal in an order Friday morning. Bredar’s ruling called the Justice Department’s report on patterns of unconstitutional conduct in the Baltimore Police Department “deeply troubling.” He said the consent decree was “comprehensive, detailed, and precise” and “appears to be balanced and well-calibrated to achieve the parties’ shared, jointly-stated objectives.” He concluded that the decree “is fair, adequate, and reasonable.”

A political appointee in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division told Bredar during a public hearing on Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had “grave concerns” about the deal and requested at least 30 days for the new administration to review it. Representatives of the city of Baltimore, however, wanted to move forward without delay. And Bredar said it would be “problematic” to delay the agreement.

“It would be extraordinary for the Court to permit one side to unilaterally amend an agreement already jointly reached and signed,” Bredar wrote. “Moreover, early in the Court’s review of the joint motion, but after the new administration was in office in Washington, the Government affirmed its commitment to this draft and urged the Court to sign it.”....................

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