What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Note that if an individual is listed by name, but their appearance in the case is as a government official, then they should be counted as a government rather than as a private person. For example, in the case "Billy Jones & Alfredo Ruiz v Joe Smith" where Smith is a state prisoner who brought a civil rights suit against two of the wardens in the prison (Jones & Ruiz), the following values should be coded: number of appellants that fall into the category "natural persons" =0 and number that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials" =2. A similar logic should be applied to businesses and associations. Officers of a company or association whose role in the case is as a representative of their company or association should be coded as being a business or association rather than as a natural person. However, employees of a business or a government who are suing their employer should be coded as natural persons. Likewise, employees who are charged with criminal conduct for action that was contrary to the company policies should be considered natural persons.
If the title of a case listed a corporation by name and then listed the names of two individuals that the opinion indicated were top officers of the same corporation as the appellants, then the number of appellants should be coded as three and all three were coded as a business (with the identical detailed code). Similar logic should be applied when government officials or officers of an association were listed by name.
Your specific task is to determine the total number of respondents in the case that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials". If the total number cannot be determined (e.g., if the respondent is listed as "Smith, et. al." and the opinion does not specify who is included in the "et.al."), then answer 99.

Opinion:
GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY, a corporation, Appellant, v. Sherman LETHCOE, Appellee.
No. 8074.
United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.
Argued May 27, 1960.
Decided June 29, 1960.
L. R. Coulling, Jr., Bluefield, W. Va., for appellant.
Billy E. Burkett, Princeton, W. Va. (Walter G. Burton, Princeton, W. Va., on the brief), for appellee.
Before HAYNSWORTH, Circuit Judge, and BARKSDALE and DALTON, District Judges.
DALTON, District Judge.
In this case the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company appeals from a judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia rendered on a jury verdict which awarded Sherman Lethcoe $1,000 compensatory damages and $2,000 punitive damages on account of two incidents of alleged false arrest and false imprisonment and one incident of alleged slander.
The first wrong complained of occurred at the Bluefield, West Virginia supermarket of appellant on November 18, 1957, and, according to Lethcoe, he was detained by Mr. Dye, the manager of the store, as he, Lethcoe, had left the premises where he had purchased some groceries. Lethcoe’s evidence is that the store manager “come out hollering, ‘Hey there, Shorty’ ”, demanded to know what Lethcoe had in his pocket, and took hold of the pocket which contained a bulky camera belonging to a Mrs. Bright which Dye suspected as stolen groceries, and was asked by Mr. Dye, “Did you pay for that stuff you have got in your poke?”; that the store manager, “acting on a hunch” (according to his testimony), took the poke and checked its contents and the check-out slip, and found that Lethcoe had in fact paid for his groceries at the check-out counter.
Some 9 days later — on November 27— Lethcoe, after the purchase of more groceries and after leaving the store for some 100 to 150 yards, was again accosted by the store manager who demanded to know what Lethcoe had in the poke, laid his hand on Lethcoe’s shoulder, took the poke out of his arms, and examined its contents, and found that Lethcoe had again paid for his purchases.
The third complaint is a sequel to the incident of November 27 — the allegation being that the store manager said in the presence of others in reference to Lethcoe, “Well the s-o-b will never come in my store again.”
Appellant contends that there is no substantial evidence of false arrest, false imprisonment or slander; that the verdict is excessive and that the finding of punitive damages is not justified under the law and evidence.
Considering the case, as is our duty to do, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and bearing in mind that any restraint of one’s personal liberty may constitute false imprisonment, it is our view there was sufficient evidence upon which the jury’s verdict of $1,000 compensatory damages could be based. Perhaps, if we were to consider only the incident of November 18 — it standing alone might be insufficient to justify 'a verdict, and appellant, sensing this point, urges that this part should have been eliminated from the jury’s consideration. However, we feel that it was not prejudicial for the jury to consider it because at least it furnished a background which might be considered by the jury in determining the attitude and relationship of the parties, and to show whether or not there was an intentional invasion of plaintiff’s rights by the store manager.
The alleged incidents of November 27, viewed from plaintiff’s version, are sufficient to uphold the jury award of $1,000 as compensatory damages. We do not agree with defendant’s contention that $1,000 as compensatory damages is excessive. It could be just as easily argued that even a hundred dollars would be too much. There is no showing of bias or prejudice, and if we are to uphold our jury system, the courts should not disturb jury verdicts rendered upon proper evidence and proper instructions, unless there is present a showing of improper motive or prejudice.
The difficulty in this case comes on the consideration of the award of $2,000 punitive damages. Bear in mind that this suit is only against the employer. Our view is that the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company should not be required to pay punitive damages unless there was a showing of authorization or ratification by the principal of the alleged wrongs. This statement of law of West Virginia, which governs us here, is accepted by both the parties, and there is tacit admission by plaintiff’s counsel that there was no authorization, and, therefore, retention of Dye in the employment of defendant is the only evidence of ratification. This, according to the decisions, is not enough.
In the case of Southern Ry. Co. v. Grubbs, 115 Va. 876, 80 S.E. 749, 751 (1914) there appears a discussion of this point, which reads:
“The plaintiff relies upon the failure of the defendant company to discharge the conductor, before trial, as a ratification of the conductor’s alleged wrongful act. This position is not tenable.
“As said in Toledo R. Co. v. Gordon, 143 Fed. 95, 74 C.C.A. 289: ‘It would indeed be a harsh rule — - harsh in its effect on all employes — - that would hold a railroad company to have ratified the employe’s act merely because before trial the employé was not discharged. Such a rule would put their continued employment in jeopardy every time an accident occurred, not because the employé was shown to have been guilty of wanton conduct, but because the railway company stood in danger that wantoness might be established.’ ”
A Fourth Circuit opinion written by Judge Parker, Pullman Co. v. Hall, 46 F.2d 399, 405, states the law as follows:
“Ratification involves the adoption of the act of the servant with knowledge of the facts; and mere retention of the servant in the service of the master does not necessarily amount to ratification, although in some cases it may be a circumstance to be considered by the jury, with the other evidence in the case, as bearing upon that question. Norolk & Portsmouth Traction Co. v. Miller, supra; Toledo, St. L. & W. R. Co. v. Gordon (C.C.A.7th) 143 F. 95; Dillingham v. Russell, 73 Tex. 47, 11 S.W. 139, 3 L.R.A. 634, 15 Am.St.Rep. 753, 762. Under the circumstances of this case, retention of the employee in the service of defendant not only did not of itself establish a ratification by the 'defendant of his improper conduct, but we do not think that that cir■cumstance taken with the other evi•denee in the case would have warranted a finding that there was such ratification.”
We can visualize instances wherein cir-cumstances of retention of a servant, knowing of his incompetence, might warrant responsibility of a punitive nature on the part of the employer, but the case at bar does not present circumstances that would warrant exemplary damages.
Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the District Court as to actual damages, but deny plaintiff’s right to the recovery •of punitive damages, and the case will be remanded to the District Court for entry ■of judgment for actual damages only. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Question: What is the total number of respondents in the case that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials"? Answer with a number.

Choices:

Answer: 0