United States v. City of Cleveland, Settlement Agreement (N.D. Ohio, filed June 12, 2015)

The consent decree itself, read for the 2026-10-02 correction to SUBSTANTIAL AND EFFECTIVE COMPLIANCE.

The finish line and its clock (para. 401, pp. 101-102 of 110): “This Agreement will terminate when the City has been in Substantial and Effective Compliance with the search and seizure provisions for one year and with all of the remaining provisions for two consecutive years. ‘Substantial and Effective Compliance’ means that the City either has complied with all material requirements of this Agreement, or has achieved sustained and continuing improvement in constitutional policing, as demonstrated pursuant to this Agreement’s outcome measures.”

The outcome measures (para. 368): “the above outcome measures have been negotiated and agreed to by the Parties.” Para. 369 has the Monitor plan “outcome measure assessments for each outcome measure at least annually, except where otherwise noted.”

Who reads it first (para. 402): the City “agrees to notify DOJ in writing when the City has determined that they are in Substantial and Effective Compliance with this Agreement and that such compliance has been maintained for the required time periods.” “If DOJ does not object, the Court may grant the City’s motion without a hearing. If DOJ does object, the Court will hold a hearing on the motion, and the burden will be on the City to demonstrate by the preponderance of the evidence that it is in Substantial and Effective Compliance with this Agreement and has maintained such compliance for the required time periods.”

Who can enforce it (para. 403): “This Agreement is enforceable only by the Parties.”