Moore v. District of Columbia

• Citation: 285 U.S.App.D.C. 95,907 F.2d 165
• Decision Date: 19 June 1990
• Docket Number: No. 88-7003,88-7003
• Parties: , 59 USLW 2005, 61 Ed. Law Rep. 477 Lani MOORE, et al. v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

Page 165

907 F.2d 165

285 U.S.App.D.C. 95, 59 USLW 2005, 61

Ed. Law Rep. 477

Lani MOORE, et al. v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellants.

No. 88-7003.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued En Banc May 9, 1990.

Decided June 19, 1990.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil Action No. 87-00941).

Donna M. Murasky, Asst. Corp. Counsel, with whom Herbert O. Reid, Sr., Corp. Counsel, and Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, were on the brief, for appellants. Frederick D. Cooke, Jr., Atty., Office of the Corp. Counsel, also entered an appearance for appellants.

David A. Strauss, with whom Matthew B. Bogin, Michael J. Eig and Margaret A. Kohn, were on the brief, for appellees.

Paul Weckstein, Kathleen Boundy and Shelley R. Jackson, were on the brief for amicus curiae Senators Tom Harkin, James M. Jeffords, Edward M. Kennedy, John F. Kerry, Paul Simon, former Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., and Representatives Augustus Hawkins, Major R. Owens and Pat Williams.

William H. Lewis, Jr., and Hunter L. Prillaman, were on the brief for amicus curiae, For Love of Children, Inc.

Before WALD, Chief Judge, and MIKVA, EDWARDS, RUTH B. GINSBURG, SILBERMAN, BUCKLEY, WILLIAMS, D.H. GINSBURG, SENTELLE and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:

The issue in this case is whether the Handicapped Children's Protection Act ("HCPA"), 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e)(4)-(f) (1988), authorizes a court to award attorney fees to a party who has prevailed in an administrative proceeding under the Education of the Handicapped Act ("EHA"), 20 U.S.C. Secs. 1400-1485 (1988). In an action before the District Court, the appellees, several handicapped children and their parents (collectively "Moore"), were awarded fees incurred in their successful administrative proceedings against the appellant, District of Columbia ("D.C."). See Moore v. District of Columbia, 666 F.Supp. 263 (D.D.C.1987). On appeal, a divided panel of the court reversed. See Moore v. District of Columbia, 886 F.2d 335 (D.C.Cir.1989). Moore then filed a suggestion for en banc consideration, and the court decided to rehear the case. We now affirm.

In upholding the judgment of the District Court, we join the four circuit courts that have addressed the question in concluding that HCPA does authorize an award of attorney fees to a parent who prevails in EHA administrative proceedings. See McSomebodies v. Burlingame Elementary School, 897 F.2d 974 (9th Cir.1989) (as supplemented Mar. 2, 1990); Mitten v. Muscogee County School Dist., 877 F.2d 932 (11th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1117, 107 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1990); Duane M. v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 861 F.2d 115 (5th Cir.1988); Eggers v. Bullit County School Dist., 854 F.2d 892, 898 (6th Cir.1988); see also Counsel v. Dow, 849 F.2d 731, 740 n. 9 (2d Cir.) (dictum), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 955, 109 S.Ct. 391, 102 L.Ed.2d 380 (1988); Arons v. New Jersey State Bd., 842 F.2d 58, 62 (3d Cir.) (dictum), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 942, 109 S.Ct. 366, 102 L.Ed.2d 356 (1988). Accordingly, we vacate the decision of the panel; we also affirm the judgment of the District Court insofar as it holds that Moore is entitled to an award of fees under HCPA.

I. BACKGROUND

EHA conditions federal funds for state special education programs on the development of a state "policy that assures all handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education." 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(1). To guarantee that the policy is faithfully administered, EHA requires states to afford handicapped children and their parents various "procedural safeguards." Id. Sec. 1415(a). Included among these procedural safeguards are notice of proposed individualized education programs, see id. Sec. 1415(b)(1)(C); "an opportunity to present complaints with respect to" such programs, id. Sec. 1415(b)(1)(E); "an impartial due process hearing" when such complaints are made, id. Sec. 1415(b)(2); and state agency review of the outcome of any due process hearing, see id. Sec. 1415(c). See generally Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 309-12, 108 S.Ct. 592, 596-98, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988). In addition, during the course of any administrative proceeding, handicapped children and their parents have "the right to be accompanied and advised by counsel." 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(d)(1). "[A]ny party aggrieved" by the final outcome of the administrative process may seek judicial review by filing an action in state court or federal district court. Id. Sec. 1415(e)(2).

As initially enacted, EHA did not provide for recovery of attorney fees. In Smith v. Robinson, 468 U.S. 992, 104 S.Ct. 3457, 82 L.Ed.2d 746 (1984), the Supreme Court held that EHA furnished the exclusive remedy for various kinds of challenges to state special education programs, thereby foreclosing joinder of claims based on statutes authorizing recovery of attorney fees. See id. at 1006-21, 104 S.Ct. at 3465-73. Congress responded by enacting HCPA, Pub.L. No. 99-372, 100 Stat. 796 (1986). Among other things, HCPA provides:

In any action or proceeding brought under this subsection, the court in its discretion, may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of the costs to the parents or guardian of a handicapped child or youth who is the prevailing party.

20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e)(4)(B). ¹

The question posed by this suit is whether HCPA authorizes a court to award fees to a parent ² who prevails in administrative proceedings required by EHA. After securing an order of special education placement in an administrative proceeding against D.C., Moore filed an action in the District Court seeking to recover her attorney fees under section 1415(e)(4)(B). The trial judge concluded that HCPA authorized an award of fees to Moore, 666 F.Supp. at 265-66, and such an award was granted. D.C. appealed to this court, arguing that HCPA authorizes the recovery of attorney fees only if the parent loses at the administrative level and then successfully challenges the administrative determination in court. D.C. also challenged the size of the District Court's fee award as unreasonable. A divided panel reversed, see 886 F.2d at 337-50, and Moore then sought en banc consideration. The court subsequently decided to rehear the case en banc to consider whether HCPA authorizes a court to award attorney fees to a party who prevails in an administrative proceeding under EHA.

II. ANALYSIS

This case turns on a straightforward issue of statutory construction: does HCPA authorize recovery of fees when a parent prevails in an EHA administrative proceeding or only when the parent loses in such a proceeding and then prevails in a civil action attacking the adverse administrative determination? This is not a question of first impression in the federal system. Relying on the text and legislative history of HCPA, the four circuit courts of appeals to address the matter have unanimously concluded that parents who prevail at the administrative stage are entitled to recover their fees under section 1415(e)(4)(B). See McSomebodies v. Burlingame Elementary School, 897 F.2d 974 (9th Cir.1989) (as supplemented Mar. 2, 1990); Mitten v. Muscogee County School Dist., 877 F.2d 932 (11th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1117, 107 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1990); Duane M. v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 861 F.2d 115 (5th Cir.1988); Eggers v. Bullit County School Dist., 854 F.2d 892, 898 (6th Cir.1988); see also Counsel v. Dow, 849 F.2d 731, 740 n. 9 (2d Cir.) (dictum), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 942, 109 S.Ct. 391, 102 L.Ed.2d 380 (1988); Arons v. New Jersey State Bd., 842 F.2d 58, 62 (3d Cir.) (dictum), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 955, 109 S.Ct. 366, 102 L.Ed.2d 356 (1988). ³ We find the reasoning of our sister circuits persuasive.

A. Statutory Text

We begin, as we must, with an examination of the statutory text. See, e.g., United States v. Bass, 404 U.S. 336, 339, 92 S.Ct. 515, 518, 30 L.Ed.2d 488 (1971). In our view, construing HCPA to authorize recovery of fees by a parent who prevails in EHA administrative proceedings best comports with "the particular statutory language at issue, as well as the language and design of the statute as a whole." K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281, 291, 108 S.Ct. 1811, 1817, 100 L.Ed.2d 313 (1988).

1. The Statutory Reference to "In any action or proceeding"

HCPA provides that a court may award attorney fees "[i]n any action or proceeding brought under this subsection." 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e)(4)(B) (emphasis added). We are at a loss to give meaning to the distinction between "action" and "proceeding" short of inferring that Congress meant to authorize fees for parents who prevail either in a civil action or in an administrative proceeding under EHA. It is true that the phrase "action or proceeding" need not invariably refer to the distinction between civil actions and administrative proceedings wherever that phrase appears in the legal universe. But in the particular statutory context that gives meaning to the words of HCPA, we find this to be the most natural reading. ⁴ Ad ministrative proceedings occupy a central place in the remedial framework established by EHA. See generally Honig, 484 U.S. at 311-12, 108 S.Ct. at 597-98. Indeed, EHA and HCPA unambiguously use the terms "action" and "proceeding" in several places to distinguish between the administrative and judicial phases of EHA litigation. See 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e)(2) (authorizing "civil action" in state or federal court and requiring that "[i]n any action ... the court shall receive the records of the administrative proceedings...." (emphasis added)); id. Sec. 1415(e)(4)(D) (using "action or proceeding" and then drawing parallel distinctions between civil actions governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and "administrative proceedings" and between "court" and "administrative officer"). "[T]here is a natural...