Opinion ID: 379503
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Special Circumstances under Section 1988.

Text: 15 Section 1988 requires a strong showing of special circumstances to justify denying an award of attorneys' fees and costs to the prevailing party in a section 1983 claim. For example, in Criterion Club of Albany v. Board of Commissioners, 594 F.2d 118, 120 (5th Cir. 1979), we said that, as long as a party actively prevailed through a settlement to vindicate its rights, no special circumstances justified a district court decision to deny fees to the prevailing party even though 16 (1) the defendants never admitted liability and there was nothing in the record to indicate that plaintiffs would have prevailed on the merits . . . 17 (2) the case had not proceeded far before it became moot as a result of the legislation, and, in fact, a substantial portion of the paperwork generated in this case was concerned solely with the issue of attorney's fees; and 18 (3) the burden of an award would fall on the present taxpayers of Dougherty County for the alleged discriminatory consequences of a system established almost 20 years ago. 19 In Johnson v. State of Mississippi, 606 F.2d 635, 637 (5th Cir. 1979), we upheld an award of attorneys' fees to a prevailing party even though the defendants alleged the following special circumstances: 20 . . . (1) that they believed the challenged statute was constitutional, given the decision in Sparrow v. Gill, 304 F.Supp. 86, 91 (M.D.Md.1969), upholding a similar law; (2) that the fee award must be paid from the limited budget of the State Board of Education and the financial burden will fall on the taxpayers of Mississippi; (3) that defendants' conduct was required by the Mississippi Legislature; and (4) that this case does not involve invidious discrimination. 21 Those cases that have recognized special circumstances sufficient to deny an award of attorneys' fees to a prevailing party demonstrate that such special circumstances arise only in unusual situations. For example, several cases upholding decisions to deny attorneys' fees involve situations in which the plaintiff filed under section 1983 to recover what was essentially a tort claim for private monetary damages. These suits did not require injunctive relief or confer significant civil rights to the public. See Zarcone v. Perry, 581 F.2d 1039, 1042-45 (2d Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1072, 99 S.Ct. 843, 59 L.Ed.2d 38 (1979) (upholding denial of fees award in damages action for insults suffered from state judge); Buxton v. Patel, 595 F.2d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir. 1979) (upholding denial of fees award in damages action involving lease of real property); Martin v. Hancock, 466 F.Supp. 454, 455-56 (D.Minn.1979) (denying fees award in damages action for injuries from dogbite). But see Sargeant v. Sharp, 579 F.2d 645, 648 (1st Cir. 1978) (reversing denial of fees award to party who sued only for damages and used contingent fee arrangement). In Chastang v. Flynn & Emrich Co., 541 F.2d 1040, 1045 (4th Cir. 1976), the Fourth Circuit cited the private nature of the plaintiff's claim as a factor in affirming the denial of attorneys' fees in an action to recover individual damages for past discrimination from a retirement plan. The court emphasized that special circumstances justified the denial of a fee award because the plan was amended to abolish any discriminatory impact upon other employees even before the plaintiffs filed suit, and because the defendants had little control over the contested aspects of the plan. In Naprstek v. City of Norwich, 433 F.Supp. 1369, 1370-71 (N.D.N.Y.1977), the court emphasized the absence of public benefit when it denied an award of attorney's fees to a plaintiff who sued to invalidate on vagueness grounds an antiquated and rarely enforced juvenile curfew ordinance. 22 Several other cases denied an award of attorneys' fees because, even though the plaintiffs received the benefits desired from their litigation, their efforts did not contribute to achieving those results. See Bush v. Bays, 463 F.Supp. 59, 66-67 (E.D.Va.1978) (no fees award to plaintiffs whose lawsuit was not a contributing factor in reforming challenged food stamp procedure) (alternate holding); Young v. Kenley, 465 F.Supp. 1260, 1264 (E.D.Va.1979) (no fees award to plaintiff whose frivolous suit was unnecessary to obtain relief desired) (alternate holding). The fact that the plaintiffs' lawsuit did not contribute to achieving the desired results from the litigation was also cited as a factor in Aho v. Clark, 608 F.2d 365, 367-68 (9th Cir. 1979). In this case the Ninth Circuit upheld the denial of an attorneys' fees award because in settling the case the parties had not contemplated a subsequent award of fees, and because plaintiffs' litigation was not instrumental in bringing defendants' challenged school breakfast program in compliance with federal standards. 23 The situation presented on this appeal does not involve any of these reasons for recognizing special circumstances sufficient to deny an award of attorneys' fees. Unlike the plaintiffs in Zarcone or Naprstek, the Loyalists did not sue merely for private monetary damages or to challenge an antiquated, rarely enforced statute: the Loyalists counterclaimed to enjoin the active enforcement of a statute that interfered with important associational freedoms for a great number of Mississippi voters. In contrast to the Chastang defendants, who possessed little control over the challenged retirement plan, the Regulars' officers and state officials exercised direct power to enforce the unconstitutional registration statute. The Loyalists' vigorous advocacy throughout this litigation was essential for invalidating the unconstitutional statute; the Loyalists did not merely benefit from another party's efforts as did the plaintiffs in Bush v. Bays and Young v. Kenley. The final settlement agreement between the Loyalists and Regulars reserved the issue of litigation costs; the Loyalists did not compromise their right to pursue a subsequent fees award as did the plaintiffs in Aho v. Clark. None of these prior cases that recognized special circumstances sufficient to deny an award of attorneys' fees provides meaningful support for the district court's finding of special circumstances in this case. 24