Opinion ID: 624899
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: BCTC Factors

Text: We noted in BCTC that a court determining whether to vacate or modify a decree should respond to the specific set of circumstances before it by considering factors unique to the conditions of the case. BCTC, 64 F.3d at 888. The factors raised in the District Court that are unique to the circumstances of this case are whether the RNC has complied or attempted to comply in good faith with the terms of the Decree and the likelihood that the conduct sought to be prevented will recur absent the Decree. For any change to justify vacatur, it must be a significant change, rendering the prospective application of the Decree inequitable. See BCTC, 64 F.3d at 886. The RNC claims that it has complied with the Decree since 1987 and that it is highly unlikely that the RNC will attempt to intimidate or suppress minority voters in the future if the Decree is vacated. The District Court did not abuse its discretion or err by considering the Malone finding that, in 2004, the RNC engaged in substantive and procedural violations of the Decree. Although the panel's decision was vacated as moot by this Court sitting en banc, that vacatur did not disturb the panel's factual determination that the RNC had violated the Decree. Furthermore, the District Court did not rely on Malone's preliminary injunction as precedent, but, instead, merely considered its finding of fact regarding the Decree violation as instructive regarding the RNC's level of compliance with the Decree. [27] Furthermore, the RNC's position regarding Malone is contradictory. For purposes of determining RNC's compliance with the Decree, the RNC argues that the Court should not consider Malone in any way. However, for purposes of determining from which point the eight-year Decree expiration date should begin to run, the RNC has mentioned that the 2004 Malone decision could be an appropriate starting point. Even if the RNC had not violated the Decree since 1987, that fact alone is not necessarily sufficient to justify vacating the Decree because compliance is the purpose of the Decree. See BCTC, 64 F.3d at 889 (declining to hold that temporary compliance is itself sufficient to constitute the type of changed circumstances that warrant lifting of an injunction). As the District Court noted, any past compliance might have been because the Decree itself has deterred such behavior. Democratic Nat'l Comm., 671 F.Supp.2d at 601. Additionally, the District Court did not abuse its discretion by finding that the RNC had not produced evidence demonstrating a lack of incentive for the RNC to engage in voter suppression and intimidation. The racial and ethnic background of this nation's political leadership, the RNC's leadership, and the electorate do not decrease the likelihood that the RNC will suppress minority voters such that prospective application of the Decree is inequitable. If the RNC does not hope to engage in conduct that would violate the Decree, it is puzzling that the RNC is pursuing vacatur so vigorously notwithstanding the District Court's significant modifications to the Decree. The RNC's decision not to engage in normal poll-watch functions or obtain preclearance for voter fraud security programs does not allow us to assume past or future compliance. On the contrary, the RNC's refusal to engage in normal poll-watch functions or to obtain preclearance may be because the RNC, as it has argued, is not sure of the difference between normal poll-watch functions and voter fraud security programs. That the RNC has not engaged in a normal poll-watch function and has not presented a request for preclearance of a voter fraud security program that does not disproportionately target minority voters leaves open the possibility that the RNC, absent enforcement of the Decree, would not comply with the Decree terms in the future. See BCTC, 64 F.3d at 890 (noting that a party deciding not to picket at all does not show that [the party] has in fact learned how to picket without treading on the prohibitions against secondary boycott contained both in the law and the various negotiated consent decrees). In light of the District Court's modifications, the RNC does not point to any significant change that renders prospective application of the Decree inequitable. The District Court did not abuse its discretion by declining to vacate or modify the Decree because of BCTC factors.