Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-280_ba7d.pdf
Page Number: 24.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

21 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

City’s  litigation  strategy  caused  petitioners  to  incur  what
are  surely  very  substantial  attorney’s  fees  in  challenging 
the constitutionality of a City ordinance that the City went 
to  great  lengths  to  defend.10    Of  course,  a  claim  for  attor-
ney’s fees is not alone sufficient to preserve a live contro-
versy. Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U. S. 472, 480 
(1990). But where a live controversy remains, a defendant 
who would otherwise be liable for attorney’s fees should not 
be  able  to  wiggle  out  on  the  basis  of  a  spurious  claim  of 
mootness. 

If  a  §1983  plaintiff  achieves  any  success  on  the  merits, 
even an award of nominal damages, the plaintiff is a pre-
vailing  party  and  is  eligible  for  attorney’s  fees  under  42 
U. S. C. §1988.  See Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. 
v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources, 532 
U. S. 598, 603 (2001).  For this reason, were the Court to 
exercise  jurisdiction  in  this  case  and  rule  for  petitioners, 
they  would  be  eligible  for  attorney’s  fees.    See  Farrar  v. 
Hobby, 506 U. S. 103, 109 (1992).

On  the  other  hand,  dismissing  the  case  as  moot  means 
that petitioners are stuck with the attorney’s fees they in-
curred in challenging a rule that the City ultimately aban-
doned—and which it now admits was not needed for public 
safety.  That is so because “[a] defendant’s voluntary change
in conduct, although perhaps accomplishing what the plain-
tiff  sought  to  achieve  by  the  lawsuit,  lacks  the  necessary
judicial imprimatur on  the  change.”  Buckhannon,  532 
U. S., at 605. 

Section 1988 attorney’s fees are an important component 
of civil rights enforcement.  See id., at 635–638 (GINSBURG, 
J., dissenting).  The prospect of an award of attorney’s fees 
ensures  that  “private  attorneys  general”  can  enforce  the 

—————— 

10 Attorney’s fees are specifically requested in the amended complaint.  

App. 48.