Consent Order Research Articles

College agrees to consent order

Case name: Knowles v. Albright College, No. 1:24‐cv‐1415 (S.D. N.Y. 07/12/24).

College agrees to consent order

College agrees to consent order

Federal Court Enters Consent Decree Against Philips Respironics

Federal Court Enters Consent Decree Against Philips Respironics

Estimating the Negative Credit Impacts of Police-involved Fatalities

George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis spotlighted the role of police-involved fatalities that cause immeasurable harm to victims’ families and communities, weaken public trust in government and may lead to civil unrest. Police-involved fatalities place a financial burden on the cities, given the size of awards to victims’ families and the cost of implementing consent decrees. By quantifying the impact of fatal encounters on city credit rating, this study offers evidence for policymakers to make informed decisions regarding policing practices in their cities. Credit ratings incorporate third-party perceptions of local governments’ fiscal, economic, demographic, and political performance. The credit rating agency Moody's has noted “the potential financial impact of ongoing litigation costs” surrounding police-involved fatalities as a driver of downgrading ratings. Our article examines the impact of fatal encounters on the creditworthiness of the 150 largest US cities from 2000 to 2019. We observe a consistent negative correlation between police-involved fatalities and credit ratings among all the model estimates. These correlations remain statistically significant over time. We also estimate that the larger the share of non-white victims of police violence, the lower the cities’ credit ratings are.

Travel insurer to pay $1.5M in mental health discrimination case

Allianz, the world's largest travel insurance company, will pay $1.5 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit that alleged the company discriminated against Washington residents with mental health conditions. A civil rights trial was set to begin Jan. 17, The Seattle Times reported. According to the Washington attorney general's office, the company had a policy that excluded coverage for “mental and nervous health disorders” including dementia, schizophrenia, post‐traumatic stress dis‐order and other mental health conditions. “Allianz would accept a claim over a broken foot, but not a life‐altering mental health diagnosis — that's not fair, and it's not lawful,” said Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Allianz will pay about $800,000 to reimburse customer's travel losses and premiums, plus interest, and about $700,000 for the costs of the litigation, investigation and distribution of the financial restitution. Allianz has since entered a consent decree and changed its policy to remove the mental health exclusions, according to the attorney general's office.

"A very big challenge": a qualitative study to explore the early barriers and enablers to implementing a national genomic medicine service in England.

Background: The Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) was launched in 2018 in England to create a step-change in the use of genomics in the NHS, including offering whole genome sequencing (WGS) as part of routine care. In this qualitative study on pediatric rare disease diagnosis, we used an implementation science framework to identify enablers and barriers which have influenced rollout. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants tasked with designing the GMS and 14 tasked with leading the implementation across the seven Genomic Medicine Service Alliances (GMSAs) and/or Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs) between October 2021 and February 2022. Results: Overall, those involved in delivering the service strongly support its aims and ambitions. Challenges include: 1) concerns around the lack of trained and available workforce (clinicians and scientists) to seek consent from patients, interpret findings and communicate results; 2) the lack of a digital, coordinated infrastructure in place to support and standardize delivery with knock-on effects including onerous administrative aspects required to consent patients and order WGS tests; 3) that the "mainstreaming agenda", whilst considered important, encountered reluctance to become engaged from those who did not see it as a priority or viewed it as being politically rather than clinically driven; 4) the timelines and targets set for the GMS were perceived by some as too ambitious. Interviewees discussed local adaptations and strategies employed to address the various challenges they had encountered, including 1) capacity-building, 2) employing genomic associates and other support staff to support the consent and test ordering process, 3) having "genomic champions" embedded in mainstream services to impart knowledge and best practice, 4) enhancing collaboration between genetic and mainstream specialties, 5) building evaluation into the service and 6) co-creating services with patients and the public. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the challenges of implementing system-wide change within a complex healthcare system. Local as well as national solutions can undoubtedly address many of these barriers over time.

The ITT Antimerger Cases: A Tale of Three Consent Decrees

The ITT Antimerger Cases: A Tale of Three Consent Decrees

Consent Decrees and Federal Jurisdiction

Consent Decrees and Federal Jurisdiction

Effective risk management for financial institutions’ partnerships with FinTechs

The aim of this paper is to provide insights into the regulatory concerns and challenges faced by financial institutions when partnering with FinTech companies. The paper highlights the recent consent orders issued against well-known financial institutions for their FinTech relationships and risk management programme shortcomings, as well as how financial institution and FinTech collaboration can overcome these shortcomings. It acknowledges the frustration caused by the limited guidance provided by regulators on incorporating FinTech into financial institution operations. However, it encourages financial institutions to learn from the published consent orders and improve their risk management programmes. The paper also discusses the factors that need to be considered in FinTech partnerships, such as overborrowing, bias and discrimination in algorithms, and data privacy and reliability. It emphasises the importance of compliance professionals in analysing regulatory considerations early and creatively to meet future demands. Furthermore, the paper explores the changing landscape and increasing reliance on technology, highlighting areas that need to be considered in financial institution risk management programmes. It addresses concerns related to alternative credit models, bias and discrimination in algorithms, and data privacy and reliability. Overall, readers can expect to gain knowledge and insights into the regulatory concerns and challenges associated with FinTech partnerships, as well as practical actions and considerations to mitigate risks and ensure compliance.

Shell to pay $10 million for air permit violations

Shell will pay nearly $10 million to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and communities in western Pennsylvania for repeated air permit violation at its multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Under a consent order and agreement with the office of Governor Josh Shapiro and the DEP, Shell will pay a civil penalty of $4.9 million, a portion of which will be paid to local communities. Shell will spend an additional $5 million for environmental projects to benefit those communities. In all, $6.2 million will go to communities surrounding the plant. According to the DEP, the plant, which started operations in November, exceeded emission limits in recent months for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hazardous air pollutants. The DEP also cited Shell for flaring violations, malodor violations at its wastewater treatment plant, and other violations. According to the consent agreement, Shell will pay monthly

Child Welfare System-Level Factors Associated with All-Cause Mortality Among Children in Foster Care in the United States, 2009-2018.

Little is known about the impact of child welfare system-level factors on child mortality as an outcome within foster care. Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2009-2018, we examined the associations between county-level sociodemographic, foster care performance, and judicial reform characteristics with all-cause mortality rates. Results of random effects negative binomial regression analyses showed that higher proportions of younger children (<1year: IRR = 1.06, 95% CI [1.02, 1.11]; 5-9years: IRR = 1.05, 95% CI [1.01, 1.09]); children of color (i.e., non-Hispanic Asian: IRR = 1.07, 95% CI [1.01, 1.13]; multiracial: IRR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.01, 1.04]; non-Hispanic Black: IRR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.01, 1.02]; Hispanic: IRR = 1.01, 95% CI [1.01, 1.02]); and male children (IRR = 1.10, 95% CI [1.05, 1.15]) were associated with higher mortality risks at the county level. Current class action lawsuits (IRR = 0.79, 95% CI [0.63, 0.99]) and active consent decrees (IRR = 0.77, 95% CI [0.63, 0.94]) were associated with lower mortality risks. None of the foster care performance characteristics (e.g., foster care entry, placement stability, permanency) were associated with mortality risks. These findings have implications for addressing health disparities and reforming foster care systems through programmatic and policy efforts.

The largest constructed treatment wetland project in the world: The story of the Everglades stormwater treatment areas

The Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) are the largest complex of constructed treatment wetlands in the world with a current treatment area of over 25,000 ha which will total approximately 25,900 ha by the end of 2025. They are designed to remove phosphorus from agricultural and urban stormwater runoff, and when there is available capacity, they can also receive and treat water from Lake Okeechobee. STA-treated water is then sent south to the Everglades to support restoration and maintenance of this unique ecosystem. The recommendation to build treatment wetlands began in 1988 with the Lake Okeechobee Technical Advisory Committee, and the mandate to operate and maintain the STAs continues today through operating permits and consent orders issued to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The permits and consent orders set forth a stringent phosphorus water quality-based effluent limit (WQBEL) that must be met starting in 2026. SFWMD has conducted extensive research on treatment wetland function and phosphorus removal efficiency to support construction, management, and operation of the STAs to achieve the WQBEL. The most recent work has been conducted under the Restoration Strategies Science Plan. This 11-year research program began in 2013 and will continue through 2024 to address six key scientific questions aimed at assisting the SFWMD in meeting the WQBEL for discharges from the Everglades STAs. What follows in this Special Edition are articles discussing the results and conclusions from several of these studies.

Regulating Collusion

We attempt to provide a systemic view of the process of regulating collusion, including detection and prosecution as well as bargaining between firms and regulators via consent orders, the production of evidence, and containment measures that may be taken if collusion cannot be addressed with more direct means. In addition, we try to do justice to the peculiarities of the legal system: Modeling the courts as they are, rather than as economists think they should be, is essential for economic analysis to improve the way collusion is regulated.

The adoption of culturally contentious innovations: The case of citizen oversight of police

AbstractCultural contentiousness is defined as an attribute of innovation due to which it encounters resistance because of its incompatibility with hegemonic cultural assumptions. I argue that culturally contentious innovations are likely to be adopted when antecedents have productive symbolic force, i.e., they reveal contradictions between dominant cultural assumptions and the material outcomes of existing institutions or empower social actors to resolve such contradictions. However, antecedents with incapacitative symbolic force tend to obfuscate the above contradictions or decrease social actors’ capacity to resolve them, encouraging the adoption of less contentious innovation. Applying these arguments to citizen oversight agencies (COAs) for the police, I examine the antecedents of contentious (i.e., investigative) as opposed to less contentious (non‐investigative) COAs. In support of the above argument, I find that productive antecedents (e.g., a consent decree, an increase in civil rights nonprofits) are associated with adopting investigative COAs. In contrast, incapacitative antecedents (e.g., a Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights, an increase in the violent crime rate) are associated with adopting non‐investigative COAs. The findings broadly demonstrate that policy adoption scholars ought to distinguish policies in terms of cultural contentiousness and account for the symbolic force of antecedents. Further theoretical contributions are discussed.

DOJ and UC Berkeley enter consent decree in web access case

The United States Department of Justice entered into a Consent Decree with the Board of Regents of the University of California pursuant to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12131–34, and the DOJ's implementing regulations, 28 C.F.R. part 35, to ensure website access for individuals with hearing, vision, and manual disabilities. United States of America v. Board of Regents, Case No. 22‐7345 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 21, 2022).

Asahi Kasei, Michigan settle PFAS suit

Asahi Kasei Plastics North America and the State of Michigan have settled a lawsuit requiring the company to investigate and remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination at its former manufacturing site in Brighton. The resulting consent decree calls for Asahi to investigate PFAS in soil, groundwater, and surface water at the site and to undertake suitable actions to address levels that exceed criteria set by the state. The settlement could be the first of many, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel said at a press briefing Jan. 30. Initially, 17 defendants were part of a 2020 lawsuit the state filed against PFAS manufacturers. Asahi’s portion was separated from the larger suit, and six PFAS cases are currently pending in either state or federal court. The Asahi case is the first to be resolved. “I started the PFAS litigation project in 2020 to bring relief to communities impacted by PFAS,” Nessel

The curious case of the vanishing fraud

ABSTRACT This case review critiques Cohen J’s judgment in Goddard-Watts v Goddard-Watts [2022] EWHC 711 (Fam), a second rehearing of the wife’s application for financial remedies on divorce. The foundational critique is Cohen J’s minimisation of the husband’s fraudulent non-disclosure of a massive increase in the value of some shares, which had necessitated the rehearing. I argue that the judge failed to consider whether the husband’s non-disclosure had undermined the basis on which the original consent order had been made: the husband had received more than half of the capital based largely on the risk associated with the shares, which had clearly paid off. The judge also failed to consider whether the decision in the first rehearing that the increase in the value of the shares was attributable to the husband’s post-separation endeavour was undermined by his failure to disclose the size of the increase. I critique the judge for making a needs-based award to the wife, arguing that this switches focus to the wife, further obscuring the husband’s deceit. Switching to needs allows the judge to retreat to safe ground where he can avoid difficult questions about the impact of the husband’s fraud on his ability to resist sharing his wealth with the wife.

Evaluating implementation of the EPIC peer bystander intervention program in basic law enforcement training (BLET)

ABSTRACT Mandated by a consent decree, the Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) program was developed by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). The EPIC curriculum is based on active bystandership, encouraging officers to intervene when police misconduct could potentially occur. This research sought to evaluate the EPIC program recently adopted in one state. An adapted integrity measuring instrument from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) developed by Klockars et al. was used to compare officers who have recently completed the ethics programming being phased out against officers who participated in the EPIC program. Results indicate a significant difference in the areas of reporting and intervening with respect to excessive force. Implications for further research are also provided.

For a fluid approach to Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire

This paper argues that Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) goes beyond the lesbian or queer categorization that critics have often hastily reduced it to. Set in pre-revolutionary France, Portrait is a film from 'the 2019th century' (Sciamma) that addresses contemporary issues (consent, patriarchal and heteronormative order, women's silencing, women's desire and sexuality). It offers a reflection on 'fluid' time and historicizes and archives both disappeared women artists and same-sex women's relations in French painting and cinema. Sciamma reeducates her spectators’ (male) gaze, precludes voyeurism and the objectification and fetishization of her heroines’ bodies, bestows agency upon them, and displays equality and respect in both form and content. Despite its Queer Palme award at Cannes, Portrait calls for a qualifier better suited to our changing times, as this fluid approach attempts to show.

“As Pretty a Piece of Price Fixing as I Ever Saw”: Prerelease Engagements and the Circumvention of the Paramount Consent Decrees

Despite hopes for a more equitable cinematic marketplace after the 1948 Paramount decision, the studios quickly developed new methods of dominating exhibition. One technique, the prerelease engagement, created an unofficial first run at higher prices before a film's official release. The Department of Justice's disinterested response to exhibitor complaints demonstrated that it was no longer interested in policing the industry. Using the trade press and congressional testimony, this essay traces the history of the prerelease and exhibitors' unsuccessful attempts to block it—an early example of the decline of the Paramount decrees as a means to counter studio dominance.