Court Opinion

ID: 9490867
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:57:01.807969+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:21.768597
License: Public Domain

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
*1147I concur in the result reached by my colleague that a district court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine whether changed circumstances have altered the obligations of parties to a consent decree. I write separately to emphasize that this general statement of law does not grant courts and parties who have formerly agreed upon the terms of a consent decree, the ability to tamper with its express provisions absent clear proof of a significant change of factual circumstances that either: 1) “make compliance with the decree substantial more onerous,” or 2) “when a decree proves to be unworkable because of unforseen obstacles,” or 3) “when enforcement of the decree without modification would be detrimental to the public interest.” Vanguards of Cleveland v. City of Cleveland, 23 F.3d 1013, 1013 (quoting Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 384-85, 112 S.Ct. 748, 760-61, 116 L.Ed.2d 867 (1992)). Modification of a consent decree is an extraordinary remedy that should not be undertaken lightly. Brown v. Neeb, 644 F.2d 551, 560 n.17 (6th Cir.1981) (citing United States v. Work Wear, 602 F.2d 110 (6th Cir.1979); U.S. Steel Corp. v. Frat’l Ass’n of Steel Haulers, 601 F.2d 1269, 1273-74 (3rd Cir.1979); Mayberry v. Maroney, 558 F.2d 1159, 1163 (3rd Cir.1977)). While I do not disagree that “equitable” considerations may sometimes be a factor in that determination, the standard that must be met is clearly a high one. Thus, a decision to modify a consent decree requires a complete hearing and findings of fact which establish the necessity of the relief requested. Vanguards, 23 F.3d at 1017 (citation omitted).
Here, WMO did not seek a modification of the Consent Decree due to “changed circumstances” under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 60 and did not allege any of the facts necessary to justify the granting of one.1 WMO couched their request entirely in terms of the Ohio state law of equitable estoppel, seeking to bind the City to a letter it had previously written.2 If WMO had desired a modification of the Consent Decree, it should have asked for one in the court below, giving the district court an opportunity to consider the factors necessary in granting such a request. By attempting to bypass the rigorous standard applied when a party seeks to modify a consent decree and focusing entirely on the Ohio state law of equitable estoppel, WMO clouded the issue and caused the result reached in the court below. I agree, that the district court does have subject matter jurisdiction in this case, to decide the narrow' issue of whether changed circumstances have altered WMO’s obligation under the Consent Decree. I, however, emphasize that in order to justify a modification in this case, WMO must allege and prove much more than mere equitable estoppel under Ohio state law.

. Thus, WMO’s request does not entail a clarification, interpretation or enforcement of the Consent Decree because the court below already determined that WMO was bound by the terms of PD-69 (which specified the location of the buildings at issue), and that the denial of WMO’s request for a change in the location of the buildings did not violate the Consent Decree.