Opinion ID: 580694
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The EAJA Standard.

Text: 29 Under the EAJA, it is the government's burden to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that its position was substantially justified. McDonald v. Secretary of HHS, 884 F.2d 1468, 1475 (1st Cir.1989); United States v. Yoffe, 775 F.2d 447, 450 (1st Cir.1985). To meet this benchmark, both the government's underlying (agency) position and its litigation position must be substantially justified. McDonald, 884 F.2d at 1475-76. In order to carry the devoir of persuasion, the government must show that it had a reasonable basis for the facts alleged, that it had a reasonable basis in law for the theories it advanced, and that the former supported the latter. Sierra Club v. Secretary of the Army, 820 F.2d 513, 517 (1st Cir.1987). 30 On appeal, we apply an abuse-of-discretion standard in gauging the appropriateness of the trial court's ruling anent substantial justification. See Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 557-63, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 2545-49, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988); Guglietti v. Secretary of HHS, 900 F.2d 397, 399 (1st Cir.1990). Under this standard, we will reverse only if, upon an assessment of the entire record, it appears that the court below made a clear error of judgment and reached the wrong conclusion. De Allende v. Baker, 891 F.2d 7, 11 n. 7 (1st Cir.1989); see also Independent Oil & Chem. Workers of Quincy, Inc. v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., 864 F.2d 927, 929 (1st Cir.1988) (discussing abuse-of-discretion standard generally). 31 We start with bedrock. The fact that the government settles a case on unfavorable terms, or loses at trial, does not create a presumption that it operated without substantial justification. See Pierce, 487 U.S. at 568-69, 108 S.Ct. at 2551-52; De Allende, 891 F.2d at 12. Thus, in a forfeiture case, the fact that the government's attempt at confiscation misfired will not raise a presumption that its position lacked substantial justification. See United States v. Real Property, Etc. (2323 Charms Road), 946 F.2d 437, 440 (6th Cir.1991); United States v. B & M Used Cars, 860 F.2d 121, 124 (4th Cir.1988). Rather, the question of [w]hether the government's decision to initiate and to pursue forfeiture proceedings against [the claimant's property] was reasonable must be examined in light of its burden under the appropriate statute. B & M Used Cars, 860 F.2d at 124; see also McDonald, 884 F.2d at 1476 (in measuring substantial justification, one must compare the [government's conduct] with the Act it was supposed to implement). 32 Nor can the search for substantial justification be mounted in a legal vacuum. In a civil forfeiture proceeding, judicial inquiry into substantial justification must be tempered by the realization that the threshold for stating a prima facie case is low. To make out a prima facie case, the government need only show probable cause to believe that the property was used in a way that offended the forfeiture statute. See, e.g., $68,000, 927 F.2d at 32; 28 Emery St., 914 F.2d at 3; 1933 Commonwealth Ave., 913 F.2d at 3. Although we eschew a blanket rule that, in a forfeiture proceeding, a finding of probable cause is necessarily conclusive on the question of whether the seizure itself was substantially justified, but see United States v. One 1985 Chevrolet Corvette, 914 F.2d 804, 809 (6th Cir.1990) (since  'substantially justified' and 'probable cause' are standards which require reasonableness ... when the government establishe[s] probable cause in the forfeiture proceeding, its position [is] substantially justified); B & M Used Cars, 860 F.2d at 125 (Surely the government must be justified in pursuing litigation when it has sufficient evidence [of probable cause] to prevail at trial.), in favor of a case-by-case approach that recognizes the distinctiveness of the substantially justified criterion, see Sierra Club, 820 F.2d at 517, we agree that, frequently, the inquiries will overlap and the answers coincide. 33