Change in Law. The Second Circuit addressed the novel question of whether a court-ordered stipulation between private and governmental parties that is equivalent to a consent decree that recites provisions of state statutes in force at the time that the stipulation was executed bind the government to continue to enforce those statutes even though there have been changes in the law. The case at issue, Doe v. Pataki, involved sex offenders seeking to be excluded from certain new provisions of law relating to sex offenders. A split panel of the Second Circuit held that the stipulation did not prevent enforcement of the new statutory provisions.

The decision can be found here.