Quickie cost/benefit analysis

The NOPD consent decree will finally be allowed to go forward when we reach the point where the cost of legal fees associated with appealing it exceed the cost of actually implementing it.

NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a emergency stay in the federal case concerning the consent decree over the New Orleans Police Department.

The temporary stay puts the case on hold, and eliminates a meeting scheduled tomorrow to announce a monitor for the consent decree.

The appeals court will next look at whether to grant or deny the city's  motion to vacate, or toss out, the entire consent decree.

Also... memories:

Landrieu, standing beside more than a dozen community leaders, said at a news conference that he wants the Justice Department to come in and do an assessment of the NOPD and the criminal justice system.

Landrieu said he anticipates that the federal assessment would eventually result in a consent decree, a move that could mean federal oversight for the troubled department.

“It is clear that nothing short of a complete transformation is necessary and essential to ensure safety for the citizens of New Orleans,” Landrieu wrote in his letter to Holder.

At the time, the above item caused our friends at The Lens to opine,

This represents the mayor’s clearest statement on the possibility of federal intervention. He is not interested in negotiating a half-loaf relationship with the Justice Department to appease anybody associated with the incumbent regime. He wants the Civil Rights Division to use its authority to sue the department to mandate reform measures under court order. While the city may negotiate the terms of a settlement once that lawsuit is filed, there would be very little wiggle room once that consent decree is on the books.

Yeah well... not so much that, really.