Craft v. County of San Bernardino

• Decision Date: 01 April 2008
• Docket Number: Case No.: EDCV05-00359 SGL.
• Citation: 624 F.Supp.2d 1113
• Parties: Karen CRAFT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California

624 F.Supp.2d 1113

Karen CRAFT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al., Defendants.

Case No.: EDCV05-00359 SGL.

United States District Court, C.D. California.

April 1, 2008.

Barrett S. Litt, Paul J. Estuar, Litt, Estuar, Harrison & Kitson, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Robert Mann, Donald W. Cook, Attorneys at Law, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiffs.

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS.

STEPHEN G. LARSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is a class action on behalf of various classes of inmates who were in San Bernardino County Jail. This action was filed on May 3, 2005. There are five classes certified by the Court. Plaintiffs filed a class certification motion, which was granted by the Court on October 11, 2006. Subsequently, in the context of the settlement of the case, the Court approved a refined and expanded class definition. The classes are now defined as follows.

a. Pre-Arraignment Strip Search Class. San Bernardino County Jail arrestees booked on offenses not involving weapons, violence or drugs who were transferred from a local Type 1 jail (a Type 1 jail is a local detention facility used for the detention of persons for not more than 96 hours excluding holidays after booking) to a Type 2 jail (a Type 2 jail is a local detention facility used for the detention of persons pending arraignment, during trial, and upon a sentence or commitment) prior to arraignment and were, at the time of admission to the Type 2 jail, subjected to a strip search or visual body cavity search without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe they were in possession of weapons or drugs, pursuant to a blanket policy, practice or custom of Defendants of strip searching all such arrestees. The class period is May 3, 2003—December 11, 2006.

b. US Marshal [aka USM] Strip Search Class. San Bernardino County Jail inmates who were in federal custody and who, pursuant to agreement between the United States and San Bernardino County, were housed in a San Bernardino jail facility, and who, upon being taken from federal to San Bernardino custody, were strip searched by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that they were in the possession of weapons or drugs, pursuant to a blanket policy, practice of custom of Defendants of strip searching all such transferees. The class period is May 3, 2003—December 11, 2006.

c. Transport Strip Search Class. San Bernardino County Jail inmates who were in the custody of another law enforcement agency, and who were transferred to San Bernardino County custody to be arraigned on charges in San Bernardino County, and who, upon being taken into San Bernardino County custody, were strip searched by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that they were in the possession of weapons or drugs, pursuant to a blanket policy, practice of custom of Defendants of strip searching all such transferees. The class period is May 3, 2003—December 11, 2006.

d. Post-Release Strip Search Class. San Bernardino County Jail inmates who appeared in court, and, at the conclusion of their court appearance, were entitled to release and, prior to release, were subjected to a strip search or visual body cavity search without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe they were in possession of weapons or drugs, pursuant to a blanket policy, practice or custom of Defendants of strip searching all such inmates. The class period is May 3, 2003—December 11, 2006.

e. Group Strip Search Class. County jail inmates who are not members of either the Pre-Arraignment, USM, Transfer or Post-Release Strip Search Classes who were subjected to a strip search or visual body cavity search in a group pursuant to the blanket policy, custom or practice of the San Bernardino County Jail of strip searching inmates in a group. The class period is May 3, 2003—March 7, 2007.

The Plaintiffs filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was opposed by Defendants. On December 7, 2006, the Court granted Plaintiffs' motion, finding that 1) the County's practice of routinely strip searching pre-arraignment arrestees who were placed in a local County facility and then transferred to its main detention centers at either Central Detention Center or West Valley Detention Center violated the Fourth Amendment, and 2) the County's practice of routinely strip searching inmates who appeared in court and were ordered or became entitled to release from custody before releasing them violated the Fourth Amendment. The Court's order considered the fact that strip searches occurred in groups as a factor weighing against their constitutionality but did not decide whether group strip searches independently violated the Fourth Amendment. See Craft v. County of San Bernardino, 468 F.Supp.2d 1172 (C.D.Cal.2006).

Subsequently, the parties entered into mediation before an agreed upon private mediator. After several sessions, the parties agreed to the basic terms of the settlement, which include: 1) an estimated class fund of $25,500,000 (the exact amount of which is $25,648,204; 2) a point system based upon the records of the San Bernardino County Jail to determine how many points are awarded to the Plaintiffs; 3) a special allocation of $200,000 to the seven Named Plaintiffs, to be allocated as agreed to by them and their counsel; 4) a reserve to the class fund of $648,204 that may be used to pay half of any opt-out fees and awards, any remainder of which then goes to the remaining class fund for distribution to class members, and 5) the Plaintiffs' right to seek an award not to exceed 25% of the class fund, now determine to be $25,648,204. The Court has approved that settlement in a separate order. See Final Order of Approval and Settlement, concurrently filed herewith.

Plaintiffs filed a motion for attorneys' fees seeking 25% of the fund as a class fund award. For the reasons stated below, the Court awards Plaintiffs' counsel $6,375,000 (25% of the class fund) as attorneys' fees, plus $70,564.64 in costs.

II. THE STANDARDS FOR AWARDING CLASS FUND ATTORNEYS' FEES.

It is well settled in the Ninth Circuit that, "[i]n a common fund case, the district court has discretion to apply either the lodestar method or the percentage-of-the-fund method in calculating a fee award." Fischel v. Equitable Life Assurance Soc'y of the U.S., 307 F.3d 997, 1006 (9th Cir.2002); see also, e.g., Paul, Johnson, Alston & Hunt v. Graulty, 886 F.2d 268, 272 (9th Cir.1989); In re Washington Public Power Supply System Securities Litigation, 19 F.3d 1291, 1295 (9th Cir. 1994)). While the court has discretion to use either method, "the primary basis of the fee award remains the percentage method." Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corp., 290 F.3d 1043, 1050 (9th Cir.2002). See also Six Mexican Workers v. Arizona Citrus Growers, 904 F.2d 1301, 1311 (9th Cir. 1990) ("benchmark percentage [of 25% of the fund] should be adjusted, or replaced by a lodestar calculation, when special circumstances indicate that the percentage recovery would be either too small or too large in light of the hours devoted to the case or other relevant factors"); In re Rite Aid Corp. Securities Litigation, 396 F.3d 294, 307 (3rd Cir.2005)) ("the lodestar cross-check does not trump the primary reliance on the percentage of common fund method").

The Ninth Circuit has "established 25% of the common fund as the `benchmark' award for attorney fees." E.g., Torrisi v. Tucson Elec. Power Co., 8 F.3d 1370, 1376 (9th Cir.1993); see also Six Mexican Workers v. Arizona Citrus Growers, supra. Although not mandated by the Ninth Circuit, courts often consider the following factors when determining the benchmark percentage to be applied: (1) the result obtained for the class; (2) the effort expended by counsel; (3) counsel's experience; (4) counsel's skill; (5) the complexity of the issues; (6) the risks of non-payment assumed by counsel; (7) the reaction of the class; and (8) comparison with counsel's loadstar. See, e.g., In re Heritage Bond Litigation, 2005 WL 1594403, *18 (C.D.Cal.2005) (exercising discretion to award 1/3 of the class fund as a fee). The Court will address each factor below.

A. The Complexity Of The Issues, Counsel's Skill and the Degree of Risk Assumed By Counsel.

Congress recognized the complexity of civil rights cases when the civil rights attorneys' fee statute (42 U.S.C. § 1988) was passed in 1976. See S.Rep.No. 94-1011, 1976 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News at 5908, 5913 (civil rights fees should "be governed by the same standards which prevail in other types of equally complex federal litigation, such as antitrust cases"). The issues involved in this case involve complex issues of constitutional law in an area where considerable deference is given to jail officials, as this Court recognized in the partial summary decision in this case. See Craft v. County of San Bernardino, 468 F.Supp.2d 1172, 1176 (C.D.Cal.2006) ("As the Ninth Circuit has noted: `We recognize the difficulty of operating a detention facility safely, the seriousness of the risk of smuggled weapons and contraband, and the deference we owe jail officials' exercise of judgment in adopting and executing policies necessary to maintain institutional security.' Way v. County of Ventura, 445 F.3d 1157, 1161 (9th Cir. 2006).")

The settlement in this case ultimately encompassed five categories of class members. At the time this lawsuit was filed, the law was not settled in the areas encompassed by the suit, and in some areas the law was very uncertain. All Ninth Circuit decisions to date finding strip searches unconstitutional involved pre-arraignment strip searches in the context of people not being placed in the general population. See, e.g., Way v. County of Ventura, 445 F.3d 1157, 1159 (9th Cir.2006) (pre-arraignment arrestees charged with being under the influence of drugs); Giles v. Ackerman, 746...