The Birmingham Times
After nearly four decades under federal supervision for discriminatory hiring practices, Jefferson County today was released from one of the longest serving consent decrees in the country.
In a nine-page order, U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith terminated a 38-year-old consent decree writing that the county has “demonstrated its ability and commitment to function in compliance with federal law, absent judicial supervision.”
The consent decree, which stemmed from a 1975-era lawsuit that claimed Jefferson County was discriminatory in hiring practices of Blacks and women, was entered on Dec. 29, 1982 and has involved tens of millions in legal fees, five years with a court appointed receivership and two years with a monitor.