Jenkins by Jenkins v. State of Mo.
| Decision Date | 14 October 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-3870,96-3870 |
| Citation | 127 F.3d 709 |
| Parties | 121 Ed. Law Rep. 914 Chinyere JENKINS, by her next friend, Joi JENKINS; Nicholas Paul Winchester-Rabelier, by his next friend, Paula Winchester; Margo Vaughn-Bey, by her next friend, Franklin Vaughn-Bey; Nicholas C. Light, by his next friend, Marian Light; Stephon D. Jackson, by his next friend, B.J. Jones; Travis N. Peter, by his next friend, Debora Chadd-Peter; Leland Guess, by his next friend, Sharon Guess, Plaintiffs-Appellants, American Federation of Teachers, Local 691, Intervenor below, v. STATE OF MISSOURI; Mel Carnahan, Governor of the State of Missouri; Bob Holden, Treasurer of the State of Missouri; Missouri State Board of Education; Peter Herschend, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Thomas R. Davis, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Robert E. Bartman, Commissioner of Education of the State of Missouri; Gary D. Cunningham, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Rice Pete Burns, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Sharon M. Williams, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Betty Preston, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Jacquelline Wellington, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Russell Thompson, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education, Defendants-Appellees, School District of Kansas City; Dr. Henry D. Williams, Superintendent thereof; Terry M. Riley, Member of the Board of Directors; Lance Loewenstein, Member of the Board of Directors; Marilyn Simmons, Member of the Board of Directors; Sandy Aguire Mayer, Member of the Board of Directors; John A. Rios, Member of the Board of Directors; Darwin Curls, Member of the Board of Directors; Patricia Kurtz, Member of the Board of Directors; Edward J. Newsome, Member of the Board of Directors; Dr. Julia H. Hill, Member of the Board of Directors; John W. Still, Member of the Board of Directors, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Arthur A. Benson II, Kansas City, MO, argued (John E. Kirklin and Jamie K. Lansford, on the brief), for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Bart A. Matanic, Jefferson City, MO (John R. Munich, Michael J. Fields and Jeremiah W. Nixon, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees.
Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, HEANEY, McMILLIAN, GIBSON, FAGG, BOWMAN, WOLLMAN, BEAM, LOKEN, HENSEN, MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, En Banc.
On its own motion, the Court en banc hereby vacates the order previously entered granting in part the State of Missouri's suggestion for rehearing en banc. The en banc setting of an oral argument for Wednesday, October 22, 1997, is also vacated.
This action is taken by the Court en banc in anticipation of the filing of a revised panel opinion, which opinion will be filed immediately after the entry of this order. The case is hereby remanded to the panel for that purpose.
Either side is free to file a petition for rehearing, with or without suggestion for rehearing en banc, directed to the revised panel opinion.
All members of the Court reserve the right to file opinions explaining their votes in this matter.
Before McMILLIAN, HEANEY, and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.
The plaintiffs in the Kansas City school desegregation case appeal the district court's order denying them an award of attorneys' fees for their participation in the proceedings in the Supreme Court that culminated in Missouri v. Jenkins, 515 U.S. 70, 115 S.Ct. 2038, 132 L.Ed.2d 63 (1995) (Jenkins III ). The district court denied fees on the theory that, since the Supreme Court decided Jenkins III against the Jenkins class, the Jenkins class could not be considered the "prevailing party" within the meaning of the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1988 (West Supp.1997). 1 We reverse and award fees.
The Jenkins class filed its application for attorneys' fees for the work in defending the State's certiorari petition, which resulted in the Supreme Court's decision in Jenkins III. The State's response was a legal one, that the State fully prevailed in the Supreme Court, reversing the decisions of this court over the opposition of the Jenkins class that the interdistrict goals of suburban comparability and desegregative attractiveness were beyond the scope of the intradistrict case, that the compensatory remedial program should be limited to victims of segregation, and that student achievement was not to be considered in the unitary status analysis. It asserts that it received all that it asked for, over the opposition of the Jenkins class. Therefore, the Jenkins class was not a prevailing party at the Supreme Court stage in the litigation, and could not be compensated for its fees. The State concluded by arguing that there was no exception to this rule in desegregation cases.
The district court found that plaintiffs had not achieved partial success in the certiorari proceedings. The district court stated: "Plaintiffs cannot be said to be 'prevailing parties' in the action before the Supreme Court." It rejected the Jenkins class's argument that even if it did not achieve success on appeal, it was entitled to retain the status of prevailing party from the underlying litigation.
The State argues generally that the standard of review in claims for attorneys' fees is abuse of discretion, citing Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness v. Thomas, 53 F.3d 881, 884 (8th Cir.1995). In Friends, an Equal Access to Justice Act case, we stated that broad rule, id. at 884, but continued by stating that in applying the standard, we review the district court's conclusions of law de novo and reject findings of fact only if they are clearly erroneous. Id. at 885. In Friends, there was no issue as to whether the plaintiffs were prevailing parties, but the question in issue under the EAJA was whether the government's position was substantially justified. The State also cites Johnson v. Bismarck Public School District, 949 F.2d 1000 (8th Cir.1991), in which we stated the rule that attorneys' fee award decisions are reviewed on an abuse of discretion standard. Id. at 1003. It is evident, however, that Johnson passed beyond the prevailing party issue and based its decision on the fee reduction on the ground of limited success, an area particularly appropriate for discretionary determination by the district court.
We have, however, on numerous occasions clearly stated that we review de novo the legal question of whether a litigant is a prevailing party. See Pottgen v. Missouri State High Sch. Activities Ass'n, 103 F.3d 720, 723 (8th Cir.1997); St. Louis Fire Fighters Ass'n v. St. Louis, 96 F.3d 323, 330 (8th Cir.1996). Accord Church of Scientology v. City of Clearwater, 2 F.3d 1509, 1512-13 (11th Cir.1993) ( ), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 807, 115 S.Ct. 54, 130 L.Ed.2d 13 (1994). In Association for Retarded Citizens v. Schafer, 83 F.3d 1008 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 482, 136 L.Ed.2d 376 (1996), we stated that we reviewed fee awards for an abuse of discretion, "or an error in implementing the governing legal standards." Id. at 1010 (quotation omitted). The Supreme Court has defined and applied the test for prevailing party status in unmistakably legal terms: "[A] plaintiff 'prevails' when actual relief on the merits of his claim materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the defendant's behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff." Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 111-12, 113 S.Ct. 566, 573, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). Thus, while abuse of discretion governs in reviewing fee awards, the question of prevailing party status, a statutory term, presents a legal issue for decision, which we review de novo.
The district court's decision is based solely on the State's legal argument that the Jenkins class was not a prevailing party. It did not go beyond this threshold issue to areas requiring the exercise of discretion. The State made no argument that any fees awarded should be reduced because of limited success. The State's argument was an all-or-nothing one, that the Jenkins class was not a prevailing party and not entitled to recover any fees at all. Thus, we analyze the prevailing party issue de novo.
The Jenkins class argues that its status as "prevailing party" was established when it was determined that the State had violated the Constitution and was obliged to remedy the unconstitutional conditions it had created. Thereafter, the class representatives were obliged to defend the remedy and entitled to fees for doing so. They argue that the purpose of section 1988 requires that they be compensated for efforts necessary to defend the remedy, without constant reevaluation of their entitlement to fees, depending on whether they win every controversy that arises.
It is generally true that status as a prevailing party is determined on the outcome of the case as a whole, rather than by piecemeal assessment of how a party fares on each motion along the way. Commissioner, INS v. Jean, 496 U.S. 154, 161-62, 110 S.Ct. 2316, 2320, 110 L.Ed.2d 134 (1990) (). This is true of matters decided after judgment on the merits, as well as those decided before. See id.
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