As Kent noted here, a liberal district judge in Baltimore rushed to implement a federal consent degree regulating the Baltimore police department notwithstanding that our newly-constituted Justice Department asked for time to review it.
Few doubt that there are sometimes abuses of police power that require federal intervention. I was part of such intervention when I joined DOJ, and it wasn't just a consent decree, either. But the ideological slant of the consent decrees written by Obama's Justice Department is not what the Framers had in mind when they sharply cabined federal authority, and made policing almost entirely (some say 100%) a local matter.
Sheriff David Clarke and I are quoted extensively in this LifeZette article explaining why consent degrees are problematic. The main reason, as I noted, is that they take root in a distorted, pre-fab view that sees cops as hoodlums and criminals as victims.
Leave a comment