Boivin v. Black

• Decision Date: 02 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-2085,99-2085
• Parties: (1st Cir. 2000) RAYMOND P. BOIVIN, PLAINTIFF, APPELLEE, V. LT. DONALD BLACK, DEFENDANT, APPELLANT. Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 36

225 F.3d 36 (1st Cir. 2000)

RAYMOND P. BOIVIN, PLAINTIFF, APPELLEE,

V.

LT. DONALD BLACK, DEFENDANT, APPELLANT.

No. 99-2085

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit

Heard August 2, 2000

Decided September 5, 2000

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. Morton A. Brody, U.S. District Judge] Diane Sleek, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Andrew Ketterer, Maine Attorney General, and Paul Stern, Deputy Attorney General, were on brief, for appellant.

Stuart W. Tisdale, Jr., with whom Mary A. Davis and Tisdale & Davis, P.A. were on brief, for appellee.

Before Selya, Circuit Judge, Wallace,^* Senior Circuit Judge, and Boudin, Circuit Judge.

Selya, Circuit Judge.

The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e (Supp. II 1996), altered the legal landscape in regard to several types of civil actions brought by prison inmates. Certain of these changes curtailed the amount of attorneys' fees that a prevailing prisoner-plaintiff could expect to obtain from his vanquished opponent. One such provision involves suits for money damages; when a prisoner secures a monetary judgment in a civil action covered by the PLRA, the statute caps the defendants' liability for attorneys' fees at 150% of the judgment. See id. § 1997e(d)(2).

This appeal raises the novel question of whether the "monetary judgment" cap applies to nominal damage awards. Contrary to the district court, we hold that it does. We proceed to reject the plaintiff's alternative argument that the cap, so construed, is unconstitutional. Consequently, we set aside the lower court's order granting a more munificent counsel fee than the statute allows and remand with instructions to reduce that award to $1.50.

I. BACKGROUND

Raymond P. Boivin, a pretrial detainee housed at Maine Correctional Institute-Warren, sued correctional officer Donald Black following an incident in which Boivin lost consciousness after being locked in a restraint chair, his mouth covered by a towel. ¹ On January 20, 1999, a jury found that Black, who was in charge at the time, had violated Boivin's due process rights, but awarded Boivin only $1.00 in nominal damages. Following entry of the judgment, Boivin moved for an award of $3,892.50 in attorneys' fees. Black opposed the motion, arguing that section 1997e(d)(2) capped attorneys' fees at $1.50 (150% of the monetary judgment).

The trial court ruled that the term "a monetary judgment," as used in the PLRA, did not include a judgment for nominal damages and, accordingly, held the fee cap inapplicable. See Boivin v. Merrill, 66 F. Supp. 2d 50, 51 (D. Me. 1999). The court rested its decision on two grounds. First, it found that applying the PLRA's percentage-based fee cap to a nominal damage award would lead to an absurd result -exemplified here by Boivin's counsel being entitled to a maximum stipend of $1.50 despite having tried the case to a successful conclusion. See id. Second, the court posited that applying the PLRA in so mechanistic a fashion would discourage lawyers from accepting meritorious prisoner civil rights suits. See id. Finding no proof in the PLRA's legislative history that Congress intended to create such a disincentive, the court decreed that the plain meaning of the provision must yield. See id. The court proceeded to award the full amount of attorneys' fees requested. See id. at 52. Black appeals from this determination.

II. ANALYSIS

In order to frame the issues on appeal, we deem it useful to start with an overview of the parties' positions. As a threshold matter, Boivin maintains that this appeal is untimely. Black demurs. Next, Boivin asseverates that the fee cap should not apply to nominal damage awards because that application would lead to anomalous results. Black counters that the plain meaning of section 1997e(d)(2) requires its application to nominal damage awards, and that, in all events, it is the failure to apply the fee cap to such awards that would promote anomalies. Finally, Boivin asserts that if the PLRA fee cap applies to nominal damage awards, the statute violates the guarantee of equal protection found in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. ² Black disagrees, averring that the statute, so construed, is rationally related to legitimate governmental ends. We address each of these three sets of conflicting contentions in the discussion that follows. Throughout, we apply de novo review. See Inmates of Suffolk County Jail v. Rouse, 129 F.3d 649, 653 (1st Cir. 1997).

A. The Timeliness of the Appeal.

Boivin's claim that Black failed to appeal within the thirty-day window of opportunity provided by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A) is baseless. The lower court entered the disputed order on August 12, 1999. The thirty-day period began the next day. See Fed. R. App. P. 26(a)(1). Simple arithmetic, confirmed by a glance at last year's calendar, indicates that the thirtieth day fell on September 11, 1999. Because that day was a Saturday, the thirty-day period was automatically extended to Monday, September 13. See Fed. R. App. P. 26(a)(3) (specifying that the last day of the appeal period automatically extends to the next day if the last day "is a Saturday, Sunday, [or] legal holiday"). Black filed his notice of appeal on that date. Hence, the appeal was timely. See id.

B. The PLRA Fee Cap.

In the American civil justice system, the spoils that belong to the victor ordinarily do not include payment of attorneys' fees. See Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v. Wilderness Soc'y, 421 U.S. 240, 247 (1975). Except when a statute or an enforceable contractual provision dictates otherwise, litigants generally pay their own way. See id. at 257. Congress has the power, however, to revise this schematic, and if it elects to do so, it may delineate both the circumstances under which attorneys' fees are to be shifted and the extent of the courts' discretion in that respect. See id. at 262. Furthermore, this power may be exercised selectively, that is to say, Congress may "pick and choose among its statutes and . . . allow attorneys' fees under some, but not others." Id. at 263.

In perhaps the most striking use of this power to date - the Fees Act, adopted in 1976 - Congress gave the courts discretion to award reasonable attorneys' fees to prevailing civil rights litigants. See 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) (Supp. II 1996). Congress later enacted other statutes that hewed roughly to this prototype. See, e.g., City of Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 557, 562 (1992) (noting that many federal statutes that shift attorneys' fees share similar language); Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546, 562 (1986) (noting that more than 100 federal statutes provide for attorneys' fees). In enacting the PLRA, Congress deviated from this pattern, choosing to place some explicit limitations on the fees that courts can award to prisoners' lawyers in civil cases:

(1) In any action brought by a prisoner who is confined to any jail, prison, or other correctional facility, in which attorney's fees are authorized under section 1988 of this title, such fees shall not be awarded, except to the extent that--

(A) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the plaintiff's rights protected by a statute pursuant to which a fee may be awarded under section 1988 of this title; and

(B)(i) the amount of the fee is proportionately related to the court ordered relief for the violation; or (ii) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation.

(2) Whenever a monetary judgment is awarded in an action described in paragraph (1), a portion of the judgment (not to exceed 25 percent) shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney's fees awarded against the defendant. If the award of attorney's fees is not greater than 150 percent of the judgment, the excess shall be paid by the defendant.

(3) No award of attorney's fees in an action described in paragraph (1) shall be based on an hourly rate greater than 150 percent of the hourly rate established under 3006A of title 18, for payment of court-appointed counsel.

(4) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a prisoner from entering into an agreement to pay an attorney's fee in an amount greater than the amount authorized under this subsection, if the fee is paid by the individual rather than by the defendant pursuant to section 1988 of this title.

42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d) (footnotes omitted).

The particular limitation around which this appeal revolves relates to monetary judgments. When a prisoner-plaintiff garners a monetary judgment, section 1997e(d)(2) imposes a ceiling on the defendants' liability for attorneys' fees equal to 150% of the amount of that judgment. This appeal raises the question of whether a nominal damage award counts as "a monetary judgment" within the purview of section 1997e(d)(2).

We begin, as we must, with the language of the statute. See Bonilla v. Muebles J.J. Alvarez, Inc., 194 F.3d 275, 277 (1st Cir. 1999). We assume that the words that Congress chose to implement its wishes, if not specifically defined, carry their ordinary meaning and accurately express Congress's intent. See Rouse, 129 F.3d at 653-54. If the gist of the statute is obvious and the text, given its plain meaning, produces a plausible scenario, "it is unnecessary - and improper - to look for other signposts . . . ." United States v. Charles George Trucking Co., 823 F.2d 685, 688 (1st Cir. 1987).

While section 1997e(d)(2) is awkwardly phrased, its import and its essence are transparently clear: "[w]henever a monetary judgment is awarded" in an action covered by the PLRA and the prevailing party seeks attorneys' fees, the defendant shall pay such fees up to a maximum of 150% of the judgment amount, and no more. ³ Since an award of $1.00 is just as much a monetary judgment as an award of $1,000,000, the...