A federal judge says she will end the federal consent decree governing the New Orleans Police Department.
Judge Susie Morgan said Thursday that she would agree to end the order, citing requests of both the city government and the Trump Administration. However, Morgan can't make that decision immediately because the New Orleans City Government is appealing Morgan's decision in January not to end the consent decree immediately. However, Morgan said if the appeals court sends the case back to her, she would grant a motion ending that order.
The NOPD has been under the consent decree since 2013, when the city voluntarily entered into it under then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration. It was initiated after a massive report by the United States Department of Justice found patterns of discrimination, violence, corruption, and brutality. What it brought on was an intense wave of audits, training, and reporting. In January, Judge Morgan agreed to end the order following a two-year sustainment period.
At that time, Department of Justice attorneys told the court that it agreed with Mayor LaToya Cantrell's stance that the NOPD was in substantial compliance with the decree. Since then, President Donald Trump's DOJ has worked to unravel several similar consent decrees overseeing other major cities' police departments.
The NOPD issued the following statement after Judge Morgan made her announcement:
On September 4, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the City of New Orleans filed an indicative ruling motion requesting the court dissolve the years long New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Consent Decree. Today, Judge Morgan stated in her order, if the parties file a joint motion for relief from the consent decree, the court will grant the joint motion. The City will be in discussion with DOJ regarding coordinating the filing of the joint motion to dismiss. We look forward to the official termination of the Consent Decree. We are proud of the accomplishments of the entire NOPD.