Statement of ADC's Executive Director, Craig Gurian, on August 11, 2010:
It is now a year since the Honorable Denise Cote signed the Consent Decree that ended Phase I of ADC's False Claims Act and desegregation litigation against Westchester, yet the County continues to pursue a strategy of broad non-compliance with the Decree.
Recent developments -- including interviews given by the County Executive, the submission of an "Analysis of Impediments," and the submission of a third "Implementation Plan" -- confirm that the County's purpose is to maintain the demographic and zoning status quo to the maximum extent possible, precisely the opposite of what the Consent Decree commands.
The County is evidently relying on the Monitor, the Justice Department, and HUD to collaborate with the undermining of the Consent Decree, and even boasts that the latest starkly non-compliant "Implementation Plan" emerged from extensive pre-submission meetings with the Monitor.
The failure of HUD and the Justice Department to seek appropriate court relief in response to Westchester's contempt is deeply disappointing to all those interested in genuine and robust civil rights enforcement. The failure of the Monitor to utilize his core authority to replace window-dressing "Implementation Plans" with a real plan that actually seeks to vindicate the Consent Decree's specific terms and its "overarching goal of building a more integrated Westchester" cannot be justified.