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The Woodrow Wilson School's Policy Research Institute for the Region and The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice will host a conference titled "Consent and Its Discontents: Policy Issues in Consent Decrees," on Friday, December 16 at 9:15 a.m., in Bowl 016, Robertson Hall.

The day-long event will address the critical issue of court-supervised consent decrees involving government agencies; judicial orders expressing a voluntary agreement between agencies and private parties in return for an end to civil charges. Under a consent decree, agencies agree to a program of reform, usually managed by an independent panel of experts and validated by the court.

Noted scholars, government officials, and policy makers will organize into three panels to examine questions related to the politics, management, and reform of consent, addressing reasons both governments and plaintiffs enter into consent decrees. Participants will also examine the legal gamesmanship of consent decrees; the implementation of consent decrees in concrete terms, including the role of the court and its appointees in administering these arrangements (e.g. special masters); and past and present efforts to reform the entry, implementation, and resolution of consent decrees.

Anthony Shorris, Policy Research Institute for the Region Director and Kenneth Zimmerman, Executive Director at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice will provide the conference's opening remarks. Federal Judge Norma Shapiro of the US District Court in Philadelphia will give the keynote address.

Panel discussions will be based on papers presented by leading experts in the field, such as Gerald Rosenberg, Professor of Politics and Lecturer in Law, University of Chicago; Vincent Nathan, Professor, University of Toledo; and Edward Rubin, Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Law. Q&A sessions with audience members will follow each panel.

For a complete schedule of events, please visit the Policy Research Institute for the Region web site. For more information and to register, please contact Georgette Harrison at 609-258-9065 or gharriso@princeton.edu.