I guess it isn’t too secret now is it? Consent “decrees”? That does sound like something King Obama would do - issue a decree.
Across all industries the Consent Decree from regulators is the worst of the worst. Drains millions in resources from an organization. I’ve worked on a number of them in the medical device industry. Basically it’s a final escalation in the chain for the regulator - starting with just findings and warning letters.
The difference is the CD is it is court signed and whatever the agreed to requirements are to lift it normally last for years and have to be certified by a 3rd party reporting to the regulating agency. The ones I’ve worked in my industry are typically in place for 5 years AFTER the certification is in place and the agency does another inspection to agree with it. Then if anything is felt to have moved backwards you have to start all over again until certification is reached again. Like I said drains millions in resources, and yes sometimes drives companies out of business.
Of course there are cases where companies require the oversight because they are creating safety issues - but a lot of time it is just poor documentation; because unlike criminal cases the inspections typically require the company to prove they did what the regulation requires instead of the agency proving they didn’t and created an issue.
I’m convinced that the focus is not 100% apolitical and could very easily see this being used on the police agencies where they want to “push” things along in a manner they want.
Anyone needs private advice on this stuff feel free to freepmail me.