Lynch v. Leis
| Decision Date | 31 August 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-3279.,No. 03-3269.,03-3269.,03-3279. |
| Citation | 382 F.3d 642 |
| Parties | Jeff LYNCH, Plaintiff, Mike Powers, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. Simon L. LEIS, Jr., Sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio, and Louis F. Strigari, Public Defender of Hamilton County, Ohio, Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Susan J. Dlott, J Philip L. Zorn, Jr. (argued and briefed), Christian J. Schaefer (briefed), Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, Cincinnati, OH, for Appellant.
Stephen R. Felson (argued and briefed), Robert B. Newman (briefed), Cincinnati, OH, Lisa T. Meeks (briefed), Newman & Meeks, Cincinnati, OH, for Appellees.
Before SILER, MOORE, and COLE, Circuit Judges.
Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees Simon L. Leis, Jr., Sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio, and Louis F. Strigari, Public Defender of Hamilton County, Ohio, (collectively, "Hamilton County") appeal from the district court's grant of attorney fees to Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant Mike Powers ("Powers") in this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit challenging the Hamilton County Justice Center's ("HCJC") policy of allowing prisoners to make only collect telephone calls, which in combination with the Hamilton County Public Defender's policy of refusing collect calls operated to deny pretrial detainees at the HCJC their Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Hamilton County argues that Powers lacked standing to bring the underlying action, that Powers could not maintain this suit without exhausting his state remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"), that Powers is not a "prevailing party" under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, that Powers is only entitled to attorney fees as mandated by the PLRA, and that the district court abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees in the amount that it did. Powers argues in his cross-appeal that the district court erred in not awarding fees for the full amount of time spent on preparing the petition for attorney fees, and in determining the reasonable hourly rate of one of his counsel. Because we determine that Powers never had standing to bring this action, we REVERSE the decision of the district court.
The underlying facts of the case are not in dispute, and the merits of Powers's suit is not at issue in this appeal. At the time that the lawsuit commenced, pretrial detainees at the HCJC who did not make bond were placed, following arraignment, in a permanent housing unit where they were only allowed to make collect calls. The Public Defender's Office of Hamilton County, routinely assigned to indigent detainees charged with a misdemeanor, refused to accept collect calls on its main line, while its staff attorneys, who had discretion to accept collect calls on their direct lines, accepted only a tiny fraction of incoming collect calls (6 of 322 between October of 1999 and September of 2000). The district court determined that this violated the Sixth Amendment rights of pretrial detainees.
What is hotly contested is whether the district court properly exercised jurisdiction over this case. This action was initiated on April 7, 2000, with Jeff Lynch as the initial plaintiff. The first complaint sought "actual and punitive damages," as noted in its introduction, and prayed that the district court "[d]eclare that Defendants' telephone policies violate the Constitution," as well award damages, fees, and costs. Joint Appendix ("J.A.") at 12, 17. Powers was initially added to the suit on May 25, 2000, in the Second Amended Complaint. That complaint sought "nominal damages and equitable relief." J.A. at 19. Powers had been arrested on January 19, 2000 for operating a motor vehicle without a license and improper display of a license plate. He failed to appear and was eventually arrested, on April 4, 2000. After failing to make bail, he was confined at the HCJC for twenty days, when he was affected by the phone policies; after his release on his own recognizance on April 24, 2000, he continued to have trouble resolving his case and a capias—a writ directing his arrest—was issued on June 21, 2000. That capias was recalled on July 23, 2000, and Powers's case was resolved on July 24, 2000, with a nolo contendere plea.
Lynch and Powers moved for a preliminary injunction on November 1, 2000, and to certify a class on February 2, 2001. On February 8, they moved to consolidate their pending motion for a preliminary injunction with a motion for a permanent injunction. On March 16, 2001, a joint stipulation of facts was filed by the parties, including the stipulation that the capias had been issued on June 21, 2000, and Hamilton County filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. On January 22, 2002 the Third Amended Complaint was filed by Lynch and Powers, containing for the first time an allegation of the issuance of the capias, and on January 25, 2002, the district court ruled on Hamilton County's motion to dismiss, which was filed in response to the Second Amended Complaint. Hamilton County had moved to dismiss alleging the plaintiffs lacked standing and had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies under the PLRA. In response, the plaintiffs had argued with respect to Powers's standing that he was free on his own recognizance on the date of the filing of the Second Amended Complaint—when he was added to the litigation—and "thus in imminent danger of being reincarcerated if he failed to perform as required." J.A. at 112 ). They also noted, "That danger was drastically multiplied by the issuance of a capias on June 21, 2000," J.A. at 112, and obliquely implied the capias was still outstanding: "even if Mr. Powers' claim becomes moot by the disposition of his proceedings . . ." J.A. at 113 (emphasis added). Of course, at the time that this Memorandum was filed, his case had been resolved.
The district court dismissed Lynch from the suit on January 25, 2002, for lack of standing, but denied Hamilton County's motion to dismiss Powers from the suit, on the ground that the capias had been outstanding against Powers since June 21, 2000, thereby creating a substantial threat of injury sufficient to confer standing. This factual conclusion was incorrect; while the parties had stipulated to the issuance of the capias, they had not stipulated to its continued existence—but neither had they stipulated to its withdrawal. On January 30, 2002, the defendants filed their answer to the Third Amended Complaint, admitting that a capias was issued on June 21, 2000. On February 19, 2002, the district court granted the plaintiffs' motion for a permanent injunction. The district court's opinion again contained the erroneous statement that the capias was "currently outstanding." Lynch v. Leis, No. C-1-00-274, slip op. at 6 (S.D.Ohio. Feb. 19, 2002), J.A. at 139.
On February 20, 2002, the defendants filed a motion under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 52(b), 59(a), and 60(b) to vacate the district court's January 25 and February 19, 2002 orders, based on the results of an investigation into Powers's court case, revealing that the capias was withdrawn. They apologized for the failure to bring the information to the district court's attention in a timely manner. After further papers from both sides, the district court denied Hamilton County's motion to vacate on May 8, 2002. The district court reasoned that under Rules 59 and 60(b), the only evidence that could be admitted on motion was that not discoverable through due diligence, and that court records were certainly discoverable through due diligence. The district court rejected the defendants' reliance on the usual rule that subject matter jurisdiction can be raised any time, reasoning that the defendants had "stipulated facts giving rise to jurisdiction." J.A. at 233. The district court also rejected what it characterized as Hamilton County's oblique argument that the case was moot due to voluntary compliance; they had in fact made the slightly more nuanced, though rather more flawed argument that their voluntary compliance deprived Powers of initial standing.
At that point, the defendants appealed to this court from the district court's decisions of January 25, 2002 (motion to dismiss), February 19, 2002 (entry of permanent injunction), and May 8, 2002 (denial of motion to vacate). While the appeal was pending, the parties continued to litigate the issue of attorney fees. On June 4, 2002, Powers moved to dismiss the appeal as moot under prior case law, because Hamilton County was complying with the injunction rather than seeking a stay, and arguing that there was no exception to the rule that voluntary compliance moots an appeal for challenges to the district court's subject matter jurisdiction, as the appeals court had no jurisdiction in the first instance. A panel of this court granted Powers's motion to dismiss the appeal as moot. Lynch v. Leis, No. 02-3610 (6th Cir. Aug. 13, 2002) (), J.A. at 461-62. On August 26, 2002, the defendants moved again in the district court to dismiss the case and Powers's request for attorney fees due to lack of jurisdiction. On January 24, 2003, the district court denied that motion and granted Powers's motion for attorney fees, awarding $71,782.50 in fees and $2,201.08 in costs, based on a lodestar of $57,426 and a multiplier of 1.25. In doing so, the district court incorporated its previous rulings on standing, the PLRA, and mootness, and threatened the defendants with sanctions for repeatedly arguing the points. It is from that ruling that all parties appeal.
The issue of standing is reviewed de novo. Cleveland Branch, NAACP v. City of Parma, 263 F.3d 513, 523 (6th Cir.2001).
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