Does section 3626(b)(3) of the Civil Rights Act restrict the remedial jurisdiction of the federal courts?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from Benjamin v. Jacobson, 124 F.3d 162 (2nd Cir. 1997):

The plaintiffs counter that their precise problem with the provision is that it reduces the remedial jurisdiction of the federal courts to the point where they cannot get redress for their constitutional rights. It is of course true that section 3626(b) diminishes the power of the federal courts. That diminution, however, does not infringe upon the power that courts must retain in order to meet their obligation of forging adequate remedies. This may best be seen by noting that the Act removes only the discretionary power of the federal courts to afford relief through consent decrees over and above what they could award after a litigated judgment concerning federal rights. This discretionary power flows from the idiosyncratic nature of consent decrees, which generally allow courts to offer more relief than would be permitted after a litigated judgment. Local Number 93, Int'l Assoc. of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 525, 106 S.Ct. 3063, 3077, 92 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986). 12 While the Act takes away that discretionary power, it guarantees that the court may continue to give prospective relief if it finds on the record that federal constitutional violations exist and that the relief is appropriately tailored to remedy the violation. 18 U.S.C. 3626(b)(3). The courts will thus still be able to remedy violations of prisoners' constitutional rights as they have traditionally done in litigated cases.

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