In United States v. Swift Co., 286 U.S. 106, 52 S.Ct. 460, 76 L.Ed. 999 (1932), for example, the Court summarily rejected the contention that a consent decree should be considered a contract for purposes of determining whether the courts have the power to modify such a decree absent the parties' consent. And, in Control Data Corp. v. International Business Machines Corp., 306 F. Supp. 839 (D.Minn. 1969), aff'd, 430 F.2d 1277 (8th Cir. 1970), the court rejected the argument that a consent decree should be treated as a contract for purposes of determining whether a third party beneficiary action could be maintained for breach of that contract. As Professor Handler has pointed out, treating consent decrees differently in distinct contexts is not inconsistent:
Generally, non-parties have no right of action based upon a settlement or consent decree. Data Processing Financial General Corp. v. Int'l Business Machines Corp., 430 F.2d 1277 (8th Cir. 1970). It has been held that a consent decree is not enforceable directly or in collateral proceedings by those who were not parties to it even though they were intended to be benefited by it. Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975).
[Citations.]" (Control Data Corp. v. International Business Machines Corp. (D.Minn. 1969) 306 F.Supp. 839, 845, aff'd sub nom. Data Processing Financial & General Corp. v. International Business Machines Corp. (8th Cir. 1970) 430 F.2d 1277.) Thus, "[o]rdinarily non-parties have no right of action based upon a consent decree."