Opinion ID: 311437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: modification of the awards

Text: 49 Our prior opinion required the District Court, upon the remand, to reevaluate and recompute the awards . . . in accordance with the principles herein enunciated. 436 F.2d at 1272 and 1280. As indicated above, the District Court has failed in several instances to follow those specific instructions. To specifically instruct the District Court for the second time would seem to be of little value and, accordingly we proceed to modify the awards entered on the remand. 50 There is no question of this Court's inherent ability to modify a district court judgment and enter a final order thereon. As provided in part by 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2106: 51 The Supreme Court or any other court of appellate jurisdiction may . . . modify . . . any judgment, decree or order of a court lawfully brought before it for review. . . . 52 However, a question arises relative to the appropriate scope or standard for the modification of the District Court's findings with respect to damages; i. e., whether this Court can independently determine the appropriate amount of damages or whether it is constrained under the clearly erroneous standard for review. 53 McAllister v. United States, 348 U.S. 19, 75 S.Ct. 6, 99 L.Ed. 20 (1954), settled that question when it stated that [n]o greater scope of review is exercised by the appellate tribunals in admiralty cases than they exercise under Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 348 U.S. at 20, 75 S.Ct. at 8. Clearly, then, this Court is restricted to the clearly erroneous rule. 22 54 Therefore, in modifying an award entered by the District Court, this Court cannot merely exercise its independent judgment as to the proper damages, but can only modify 23 to that maximum amount of damages which could have been awarded by the district court without constituting reversible error. See, Mitchell v. Evelyn C. Brown, Inc., 310 F.2d 420, 426 (1st Cir. 1962); cf., Traylor v. United States, 396 F.2d 837 (6th Cir. 1968).