Webb v. Ada County
| Decision Date | 04 April 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-35787.,No. 00-35842.,No. 00-35338.,00-35338.,00-35787.,00-35842. |
| Citation | 285 F.3d 829 |
| Parties | Robert WEBB, Individually, and for all other persons similarly situated; Terry Sterkenburg; Timothy Driscoll; Lesa Coontz; Frank Wallmuller; Russell Howard; Leslie Igou; Joseph Uhrich; Robert Friedly; Kent Hall; Peggy Knox; Bill Lohr; Jesse Fuller; Jane Doe, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ADA COUNTY, State of Idaho; Vaughn Killeen, individually and in his capacity of Sheriff of Ada County; Gary Glenn; Vern Bisterfelt; John Bastida, Ada County Commissioners, each sued in his individual and official capacities, Defendants-Appellants. and Richard Vernon, individually and in his capacity as Director of the Idaho Department of Corrections; and their successors in office, Defendant. Robert Webb, Individually, and for all other persons similarly situated; Terry Sterkenburg; Timothy Driscoll; Lesa Coontz; Frank Wallmuller; Leslie Igou; Joseph Uhrich; Robert Friedly; Kent Hall; Peggy Knox; Bill Lohr; Jesse Fuller; Jane Doe; Russell Howard, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Ada County, State of Idaho; Vaughn Killeen, individually and in his capacity of Sheriff of Ada County; Gary Glenn; Vern Bisterfelt; John Bastida, Ada County Commissioners, each sued in his individual and official capacities, Defendants-Appellees. Robert Webb, Individually, and for all other persons similarly situated; Terry Sterkenburg; Timothy Driscoll; Lesa Coontz; Frank Wallmuller; Leslie Igou; Joseph Uhrich; Robert Friedly; Kent Hall; Peggy Knox; Bill Lohr; Jesse Fuller; Jane Doe; Russell Howard, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Ada County, State of Idaho; Vaughn Killeen, individually and in his capacity of Sheriff of Ada County; Gary Glenn; Vern Bisterfelt; John Bastida, Ada County Commissioners, each sued in his individual and official capacities, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Howard A. Belodoff, Belodoff Law Office, Boise, ID, for the plaintiffs/appellees/appellants.
Cary B. Colaianni, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and Valencia J. Bilyeu, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Boise, ID, for the defendants/appellants/appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, Edward J. Lodge, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-91-00204-EJL.
Before: ALARCON, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges, and BREWSTER,* District Judge.
Robert Webb and several plaintiffs in this civil rights class action ("Webb") appeal from the district court's judgment awarding only a percentage of the post-judgment attorney's fees Webb requested. Ada County, Idaho ("Ada County") separately appeals, arguing that the district court should not have awarded any of these attorney's fees as they were not "directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation" of Webb's rights, as is required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) ("PLRA"). We affirm the district court's determination that the postjudgment attorney's fees Webb requested were compensable under the PLRA, because the fees were directly incurred in enforcing court ordered relief instituted to correct violations of Webb's constitutional rights. We vacate and remand a portion of the district court's fee award, however, because we find it erred in determining the applicable PLRA hourly rate and abused its discretion in not providing an adequate explanation for its substantial reduction of Webb's fee requests on three matters.
In 1991, Webb brought a class action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging unconstitutional conditions for prisoners in the Ada County Jail. The district court granted Webb partial summary judgment, finding that the jail's overcrowding was unconstitutional and was a major cause of Webb's other complaints. Through court orders and a partial consent decree, Webb prevailed on many of his claims. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, the court awarded Webb $244,308.00 in attorney's fees for his attorneys' work on the merits of the § 1983 action. In an unpublished order, we affirmed the district court's disposition of the merits of Webb's claims. Webb v. Ada County, Idaho, 145 F.3d 1343, 1998 WL 246521 (9th Cir.1998) ("Webb I").
After the district court's judgment on the merits, Webb's attorneys performed legal services to enforce the court's orders and the terms of the consent decree. Webb requested an award of attorney's fees for this service. The district court found that Webb was partially successful in his postjudgment efforts and awarded him $9,495.00 in attorney's fees. Webb filed an appeal in which he challenged the amount of the award. Webb v. Ada County, Idaho, 195 F.3d 524, 525(9th Cir.1999) ("Webb II"). In Webb II, we affirmed in part the district court's award of postjudgment attorney's fees but remanded so that the district court could apply the rate cap provisions of the PLRA to the portion of postjudgment attorney's fees earned after the effective date of the statute. Id. at 528.
On remand, Ada County objected to the award of any post-judgment attorney's fees, arguing that they were not compensable under the PLRA because they were not reasonably and directly incurred in proving an actual violation of Webb's constitutional rights. In rejecting Ada County's argument, the district court concluded that the postjudgment fees were related to the enforcement of court-ordered relief for violations of Webb's constitutional rights. After applying the PLRA, the district court reduced the amount of attorney's fees to $6,036.25. The district court also awarded Webb an additional $17,290.50 for the services performed by Webb's attorneys since the first award of attorney's fees for enforcing and monitoring compliance with the judgment on the merits and the entry of the consent decree.
Ada County and Webb filed separate appeals from the district court's award of postjudgment attorney's fees. We have consolidated their appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Ada County argues that the district court erred in awarding attorney's fees for the services rendered by Webb's attorneys subsequent to the PLRA's effective date of April 26, 1996.1 We review the district court's award of attorney's fees for abuse of discretion. Native Vill. of Venetie Ira Council v. Alaska, 155 F.3d 1150, 1151 (9th Cir.1998). We review a district court's interpretation of the law de novo. Id. at 1151-52.
The PLRA limits the amount of attorney's fees that can be awarded for services performed in actions brought on behalf of prisoners. The portion of the PLRA relevant to this appeal provides:
(1) In any action brought by a prisoner who is con fined to any jail, prison, or other correctional facility, in which attorney's fees are authorized under section 1988 of this title, such fees shall not be awarded, except to the extent that —
(A) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the plaintiff's rights protected by a statute pursuant to which a fee may be awarded under section 1988 of this title; and
(B)(i) the amount of the fee is proportionately related to the court ordered relief for the violation; or
(ii) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation.
42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d).
Ada County argues that "[a] fee request must satisfy (A) and (B)(i) or (B)(ii)." Ada County contends that Webb did not demonstrate that any constitutional violations occurred after the judgment and consent decree were entered. Ada County maintains that Webb is not entitled to attorney's fees incurred in monitoring and enforcing the judgment and consent decree pursuant to the PLRA because Webb failed to demonstrate that the post-judgment fees were incurred in proving an actual violation of the Constitution. We disagree. Ada County's interpretation of the PLRA would render the language of subsection (B)(ii) superfluous. Subsection (B)(ii) requires that the fees be "directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(1)(B)(ii) (emphasis added). If a postjudgment fee request could only be granted if the attorney's services were directly linked to a discrete constitutional violation, fees incurred "in enforcing the relief" that the court had ordered because of demonstrated previous constitutional violations, could not be awarded. To the contrary, when subsections (A) and (B) are read together, it is apparent that Congress intended that a plaintiff is entitled to fees incurred in enforcing a judgment entered upon proof that the plaintiff's constitutional rights had been violated. The PLRA defines relief as "all relief in any form that may be granted or approved by the court, and includes consent decrees." 18 U.S.C. § 3626(g)(9). Therefore, Webb's attorney's fees incurred for postjudgment enforcement of the district court's orders and the consent decree were compensable under the PLRA.
Ada County's argument that Webb is not entitled to attorney's fees incurred in enforcing the consent decree ignores findings by the district court that it corrected violations of Webb's rights. After the enactment of the PLRA, Ada County brought a motion to terminate the consent decree. It asserted that the consent decree did not comply with the requirements of the PLRA. The PLRA provides for the immediate termination of any consent decree unless
the court makes written findings based on the record that prospective relief remains necessary to correct a current or ongoing violation of the Federal right, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and that the prospective relief is narrowly drawn and the least intrusive means to correct the violation.
18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(3). The district court denied Ada County's motion to terminate the consent decree. It reasoned as follows:
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