LaRouche v. Kezer

• Decision Date: 29 March 1994
• Docket Number: No. 899,D,899
• Citation: 20 F.3d 68
• Parties: Lyndon H. LaROUCHE, Jr., Eugene McCarthy, Kevin Irwin, Virginia Irwin, Anthony Longo, Jabir Jawwaad, Timothy B. Brown, Laurence P. Nadel, Hope Crescione, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Pauline R. KEZER, In her official capacity as Secretary of State, State of Connecticut, Defendant-Appellant. ocket 93-7875.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 68

20 F.3d 68

62 USLW 2611

Lyndon H. LaROUCHE, Jr., Eugene McCarthy, Kevin Irwin, Virginia Irwin, Anthony Longo, Jabir Jawwaad, Timothy B. Brown, Laurence P. Nadel, Hope Crescione, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Pauline R. KEZER, In her official capacity as Secretary of

State, State of Connecticut, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 899, Docket 93-7875.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued Jan. 12, 1994.

Decided March 29, 1994.

Aaron S. Bayer, Deputy Atty. Gen. for the State of CT, Hartford, CT (Richard Blumenthal, Atty. Gen., Jane S. Scholl, Associate Atty. Gen., Jane R. Rosenberg, Asst. Atty. Gen., Hartford, CT, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Jonel Newman, Hartford, CT (Martha Stone, Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Hartford, CT; Martin B. Margulies, University of Bridgeport School of Law, Bridgeport, CT, of counsel), for plaintiffs-appellees.

Before: MINER and MAHONEY, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, Court of International Trade Judge. ^*

RESTANI, Judge:

The question presented is whether civil rights plaintiffs who lose their appeal on the merits may nevertheless "prevail" for the purposes of an award of attorney's fees, if they succeed in obtaining a stay and injunction pending appeal. We hold that such plaintiffs are not prevailing parties. Therefore, we reverse the district court's award of attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 (Supp. III 1991).

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs-appellees Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. and Eugene McCarthy ("appellees") have both long sought to be elected to the presidency of the United States. McCarthy launched his first presidential campaign for The list incorporated the names of all candidates whom the Secretary considered to be "generally and seriously advocated or recognized according to reports in the national or state news media" pursuant to the so-called "media recognition" statute. Conn.Gen.Stat. Sec. 9-465(a) (1989). A person rejected under the media recognition provision may participate in the primary by collecting the signatures of one percent of his party's registered voters within fourteen days after being initially rejected. See id. Secs. 9-465(b), 9-467 to 9-469 (1989). Appellees declined to pursue this "petition alternative."

the 1968 election, while LaRouche has been a candidate since 1976. In late 1991, defendant-appellant Pauline Kezer, the Secretary of State for the State of Connecticut ("the Secretary"), informed appellees of the procedures available for those seeking placement on the ballot for Connecticut's 1992 presidential primary. Although both appellees indicated their interest, they were not included on the candidate list announced by the Secretary on January 24, 1992.

Instead, on February 6, 1992, LaRouche, McCarthy, and several of their Connecticut supporters filed a complaint against the Secretary in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. The complaint alleged, inter alia, 1) the unconstitutionality of the media recognition statute; 2) the unconstitutionality of the petition alternative; and 3) the unconstitutionality of the media recognition statute as applied to appellees. ¹

The district court entered its decision on March 3, 1992, finding the media recognition statute to be unconstitutionally vague, but holding that the petition alternative provided appellees with a constitutionally valid means of ballot access. LaRouche v. Kezer, 787 F.Supp. 298, 304-05 (D.Conn.1992), aff'd in part & rev'd in part, 990 F.2d 36 (2d Cir.1993). The district court concluded that appellees

had a means available to them which was not constitutionally infirm. Thus, they are not entitled to the relief requested, including specifically the request that the Secretary be ordered to place their names on the democratic ballot. Accordingly, judgment shall enter for defendant.

Id. at 305. The court did not rule on appellees' "as applied" challenge to the media recognition statute because the finding that the statute was void for vagueness rendered the "as applied" challenge moot. Id.

Appellees filed an appeal of the district court's decision on the merits and the Secretary cross-appealed. Appellees also moved for a stay and injunction pending appeal, which a panel of this court granted following a hearing on March 10, 1992. LaRouche v. Kezer, No. 92-7263 (2d Cir. Mar. 10, 1992) (order granting stay and injunction pending appeal). ² The injunction directed the Secretary to place appellees on the ballot in time for the March 24 primary elections. Id. at 1.

On March 31, 1993, after oral argument on the merits, this court issued an opinion affirming in part and reversing in part the decision of the district court. LaRouche, 990 F.2d at 41. We agreed with the district court's holding that the petition alternative complied with constitutional standards but concluded that the media recognition test, whether or not vague, increased ballot access and therefore was not unconstitutional. Id. at 38-39. We did not consider the "as applied" challenge because appellees had "abandoned" it as "in their view moot." Id. at 38. Thus, the appeal resulted in a complete victory for the Secretary.

Appellees moved for attorney's fees and costs before the district court on May 13, 1993, approximately six weeks after the decision of the appeal was handed down. The district court awarded attorney's fees to appellees, characterizing them as prevailing parties under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 "because they prevailed on their claim for immediate relief, despite the final adverse determination on the merits of the other claims." LaRouche v According to the district court, our grant of an injunction pending appeal permanently altered the legal relationship between the parties to the benefit of appellees. Id. at 5. The district court concluded that the stay panel never addressed the merits of appellees' constitutional claims. Id. at 5 n. 1. Nevertheless, the district court stated, "plaintiffs achieved their principal goal, placement on the ballot, despite the fact that their claims on the merits, that both statutes were unconstitutional, did not prevail." Id. at 6. The Secretary now appeals the district court's award of attorney's fees.

Kezer, No. 2:92cv00095, at 7 (D.Conn. July 27, 1993) ("Ruling on Attorney's Fees ").

DISCUSSION

In a civil rights case such as this one, "the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988(b). A trial court's decision to award attorney's fees to a prevailing party is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Cassuto v. Commissioner, 936 F.2d 736, 740 (2d Cir.1991) (citing Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 571, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 2553, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988) and Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1941, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983)).

The Supreme Court has held that "to qualify as a prevailing party, a civil rights plaintiff must obtain at least some relief on the merits of his claim." Farrar v. Hobby, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 566, 573, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). A party need not succeed on every issue raised by him, nor even the most crucial one. Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Indep. Sch. Dist., 489 U.S. 782, 791, 109 S.Ct. 1486, 1493, 103 L.Ed.2d 866 (1989); Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754, 757-58, 100 S.Ct. 1987, 1989, 64 L.Ed.2d 670 (1980) (per curiam). Victory on a significant claim will suffice to give him prevailing party status. Garland, 489 U.S. at 791-92, 109 S.Ct. at 1493; Hanrahan, 446 U.S. at 757, 100 S.Ct. at 1989.

The degree of success on the merits does not alter plaintiff's eligibility for a fee award, although it may decrease the amount of the award. See Farrar, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 574; see also Garland, 489 U.S. at 793, 109 S.Ct. at 1494. For example, a party who has received $1 in nominal damages has formally prevailed, because relief on the merits has "materially alter[ed] the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the defendant's behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff." Farrar, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 573; ³ see also Garland, 489 U.S. at 792-93, 109 S.Ct. at 1493-94 ("The touchstone of the prevailing party inquiry must be the material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties...."). Nevertheless, where a plaintiff recovers only nominal damages, "the only reasonable fee is usually no fee at all." Farrar, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 575.

The definition of prevailing parties is not limited to those who obtain a favorable final judgment following a full trial. Hanrahan, 446 U.S. at 756-57, 100 S.Ct. at 1987-89. Civil rights plaintiffs who gain enforceable relief through a consent decree or settlement are also entitled to attorney's fees. Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122, 129, 100 S.Ct. 2570, 2574, 65 L.Ed.2d 653 (1980). Moreover, a court may award attorney's fees pendente lite to a party who has secured some relief on the merits either at trial or on appeal. Hanrahan, 446 U.S. at 757, 100 S.Ct. at 1989. ⁴ The Supreme Court has declined to hold An award of attorney's fees is not ordinarily justified where plaintiff's success is de minimis or technical. Garland, 489 U.S. at 792, 109 S.Ct. at 1493. Thus, the Supreme Court in Hanrahan denied attorney's fees to plaintiffs where the appellate court reversed directed verdicts against them and allowed the case to proceed to trial. Hanrahan, 446 U.S. at 756, 100 S.Ct. at 1987. The Court found that the parties had not prevailed, because

however, that a party who litigates to judgment and loses on all of its claims prevails within the meaning of the attorney's fees statute. See Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755, 757, 760, 107 S.Ct. 2672, 2674, 2675, 96 L.Ed.2d 654 (1987). ⁵

[t]he Court of Appeals held only that the respondents were entitled to a trial of their cause. As a practical matter they are in a position no different from that they would have occupied if they had simply...