Court Opinion

ID: 9474034
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:46:10.532075+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:52.090981
License: Public Domain

CLARK, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part, joined by HATCHETT, Circuit Judge:
I concur in Judge Roney’s excellent opinion except as to Part IV. That part relieves the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (and the federal government, generally) from payment of attorney fees when, acting under color of federal law absent state action, it has deprived a citizen of a federal statutory or constitutional right. In the event state action is present, the State of Florida is liable for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. It would be particularly anomalous if Florida must pay attorney fees for the federal agency’s mistake, while the federal government is relieved of _ liability.
The federal government is liable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2412(b):
Unless expressly prohibited by statute, a court may award reasonable fees and expenses of attorneys, in addition to the costs which may be awarded pursuant to subsection (a), to the prevailing party in any civil action brought by or against the United States or any agency and any official of the United States acting in his or her official capacity in any court having jurisdiction of such action. The United States shall be liable for such fees and expenses to the same extent that any other party would be liable under the common law or under the terms of any statute which specifically provides for such an award.
(emphasis added).
It is necessary to look to congressional history to determine what was intended by the language “to the same extent that any other party would be liable ... under the terms of any statute which specifically provides for such an award.” In the majority opinion we hold that if on remand state action is found to be present, the State of Florida is liable for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 for its breach of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The state and the federal governments deprived plaintiffs of privileges to which they were entitled under the laws of the United States. Section 1988 provides that attorney fees may be awarded in an action to enforce the provisions of § 1983.
As the majority opinion relates, several circuits have spoken on this subject. The best statement of the congressional history and how it makes clear the intention of Congress in passing § 2412(b) is found in Senior Judge Floyd R. Gibson’s opinion in Premachandra v. Mitts:
A close evaluation of the legislative history and purpose of § 2412(b) convine-*1156es us that Congress, in making the United States liable for attorneys’ fees “to the same extent as any other party would be liable ... under the terms of any statute providing for such fees,” intended to authorize fee awards in suits, like the one here, where federal government officials have violated plaintiff’s fundamental constitutional rights, since state officials would be liable for fees under § 1988 for analogous violations of plaintiff’s constitutional rights.
First, as stated in the relevant Report of the House Committee on the Judiciary (H.R.Rep. No. 1418 at 5-6, 9, 10; 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 4984, 4987) the EAJA was intended to ensure that individuals and small businesses “would not be deterred from seeking review of, or defending against unreasonable governmental action because of the expense involved in securing the vindication of their rights”. See also Berman v. Schweiker, 713 F.2d 1290, 1295-96 (7th Cir.1983). Pursuant to that purpose, § 2412(b) was designed “[to establish] a general statutory exception for an award of fees against the Government” and “[to place] the federal government and civil litigants [both private parties and states] on a completely equal footing” with respect to attorneys’ fees. House Report at 8, 9; 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News at 4987. These objectives could be best served by making the United States liable for fees in suits against federal officials for vindication of constitutional right, “to the same extent that” states (the “other party”) are liable for fees in analogous § 1983 suits involving state officials.
Second, the legislative history reveals that Senate Bill 265, which was to become the EAJA, was specifically amended to assure the United States would be liable for attorneys’ fees in suits of the type involved here. Senate Bill 265, as originally proposed in 1979, provided in § 2412(b) that the United States shall be liable to the same extent as “a private party” (rather than any other party) would be liable. See Award of Attorneys’ Fees Against The Federal Government: Hearing on S.B. 265 Before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the House Judiciary Committee, 96th Cong.2d Sess. at 1, 3, 9 (setting forth S.B. 265 as of August 1979). However, after hearings on S.B. 265 before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice, the subcommittee changed the language of § 2412(b) so that the final version made the United States liable to the same extent as “any other party”, rather than “a private party”, would be liable. See H.R.Rep. No. 96-1418 at 1, 4, 7; 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 4985-86. Obviously, the subcommittee was persuaded by the testimony of Armend [sic] Derfner of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Id. at 7; 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 4985-86. Mr. Derfner told the subcommittee:
Mr. Kastenmeier, if I could just direct myself to one portion of this bill?
There is an area in which a slight drafting modification could carry out what I believe might be the intention of the committee; and that is to put the United States completely on a par as far as the enforcement of important constitutional and statutory rights.
In the Civil Rights Act of 1976 you provided that when someone, whether it be an individual or business, or whatever, sues a State or local government under 42 United States Code, section 1983, to vindicate a constitutional or Federal statutory right, that fees would be available under the Newman v. Peggy [Piggie] [sic] Park standard. These bills say that the United States should pay fees — in the amendment to 28 United States Code 2412 — in those circumstances where the court may award such fees in suits involving private parties.
That doesn’t say State or local government, but if the language were amended to read, “in those circumstances where the court may award *1157such fees in suits involving other litigants”; it would achieve that purpose. And I think it would go even further toward putting the United States on a par with other governmental bodies.
Hearings on S.B. 265 at 100.
The import of Mr. Derfner’s remarks seems pretty clear: by extending the United States’ liability for attorneys’ fees to that of “any other party”, Congress would make the federal government liable for attorneys’ fees in suits seeking to vindicate federal constitutional rights, just as states are liable under § 1988 for fees in analogous suits against state officials brought under § 1983. In accordance with Mr. Derfner’s suggestion, the subcommittee amended S.B. 265 to read “any other party” in the immediately succeeding draft, which became the final, version of the EAJA. H.R.Rep. No. 96-1418 at 1, 4, 7. We believe this sequence of events demonstrates Congress’ intent to extend § 2412(b) to make the United States liable for fees in suits, like the instant one, where federal officials engage in activity that, if carried on by a state official, would render a state liable for attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. •§ 1988.
Finally, the drafters of the bill were well aware of the potential applicability of § 2412(b) to § 1988. House Report No. 96-1418 provides that the Act “reflects a strong movement ... toward placing the federal government and civil litigants on a completely equal footing” and that “[2412(b) ] clarifies the liability of the United States under such statutes as the Civil Rights Attorneys’ Fees Awards Act of 1976 [42 U.S.C. § 1988].” H.R.Rep. No. 1418 at 9, 17; 1980 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad.News at 4987, 4996.
727 F.2d 717, 727-29 (8th Cir.1984) (footnote omitted), vacated, 753 F.2d 635 (8th Cir.1985) (en banc) (Gibson, J., dissenting).
The basis for the majority opinion’s conclusion that a federal defendant acting under color of federal law with no state action is not liable for fees under § 2412(b) is that uniformity of the law will be served by our concurring in the views of other circuits. The majority therefore acquiesces in several other circuits’ reasoning that where “a suit against the federal defendant acting solely under color of federal law could not have been brought pursuant to any of the statutes enumerated in Section 1988,” (Maj. op., at 1152), it is not liable for attorney fees under § 2412(b) absent state action.
While harmony among the circuits is desirable, it should not be achieved at the expense of ignoring clear Congressional intent when passing legislation.
Moreover, the effect of § 2412(b) was to codify and make applicable to the United States the “bad faith” and common law benefit exceptions to the American Rule on Attorney’s Fees as well as the statutory allowances of attorney fees in various sections of the federal.law. See H.R.Rep. No. 1418 at 9, 17 (1980). Attorney fees are not limited to law suits where the prevailing party could have invoked a common law exception to recover fees against some party other than the United States. The United States’ liability for attorney’s fees in civil actions is subject to the same common law standards applicable to any other party-
It seems only reasonable to interpret the statutory fee shifting exception in a similar manner. Like the “common law” provision, the statutory provision should be .read to place the United States on an equal footing with any “other party.” Thus, the federal government should be liable for fees in suits involving constitutional violations by federal officials, acting under federal law, because a state would be liable for fees under § 1988 if state officials, acting under color of state law, committed a similar constitutional violation.
Admittedly, the statutory language is not crystal clear. However, the lack of precision in the statute should not be used to frustrate the purpose that becomes clear upon an examination of the legislative history. Nor should the desirable end of uniformity among the circuits cause us to ignore Congressional intent. Because I believe the legislative history makes the in*1158tent of the Congress manifest, I respectfully dissent from that section of the majority opinion holding that the federal government is not subject to attorney fee liability when a federal agency has deprived a citizen of a constitutional right.