|
|
Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754 (1980)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754 (1980)
Hanrahan v. Hampton No. 79-912 Decided June 2, 1980 * 446 U.S. 754
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
The Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act of 1976 (Act) permits the award of a reasonable attorney’s fee to the "prevailing party" as part of the taxable costs in a suit brought under any of several specified civil rights statutes. Respondents brought suit under certain of those statutes, alleging that their constitutional rights had been violated by petitioners, and seeking damages. The District Court directed verdicts for petitioners, but the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial, and also awarded to respondents their costs on appeal, including attorney’s fees which it believed to he authorized by the Act.
Held: Respondents were not "prevailing" parties in the sense intended by the Act. While Congress contemplated the award of fees pendente lite in some cases, it intended to permit such an interlocutory award only when a party has prevailed on the merits of at least some of his claims, either in the trial court or on appeal. Respondents have not prevailed on the merits of any of their claims, since the Court of Appeals held only that they were entitled to a trial of their cause. Nor may they fairly be said to have "prevailed" by reason of the Court of Appeals’ other interlocutory dispositions that affected only the extent of discovery, since such determinations might affect the disposition on the merits, but were themselves not matters on which a party could "prevail" for purposes of shifting his counsel fees to the opposing party under the Act.
Certiorari granted in part; 60 F.2d 600, reversed in part.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754 (1980) in 446 U.S. 754 Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=D4VDA8SESBRU232.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754 (1980), in 446 U.S. 754, Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=D4VDA8SESBRU232.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754 (1980). cited in 1980, 446 U.S. 754. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=D4VDA8SESBRU232.
|