Earnest Woods, Ii v. Santos Cervantes

BACKGROUND

Recently, we affirmed a jury verdict awarding Woods $1,500 in compensatory and punitive damages against Cervantes, an Appeals Coordinator at the California State Prison, Solano. The jury had found that Cervantes violated Woods’ Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by repeatedly screening out Woods’ medical grievances, causing him to undergo pain and suffering for more than a year as the result of his inability to obtain dental care necessary to fix his broken partial dentures. Cervantes appealed, arguing that the district court had erred in denying him qualified immunity. Cervantes also asked this Court to set aside the $1,000 punitive damages award because it was “unsupported by a showing of evil motive or intent.” We rejected both of Cervantes’ arguments and affirmed the judgment in a memorandum disposition. Woods v. Carey, 488 F. App’x 194, 196 (9th Cir. 2012).

Because Woods was pro se before the district court, no attorney’s fees were sought in connection with the award of judgment. On appeal, Woods was represented by counsel. After we rejected Cervantes’ challenge to the verdict, Woods filed a timely motion for attorney’s fees on…

In civil rights cases, our normal rule provides for an award of appellate attorney’s fees to a prevailing party who successfully defends a verdict won in the district court. Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678, 693-98 , 98 S.Ct. 2565 , 57 L.Ed.2d 522 (1978); Corder v. Gates, 104 F.3d 247, 249 (9th Cir.1996). The plaintiff-appellee in this case, Earnest Cassell Woods II, quali *1179 fies as a prevailing party who would ordinarily be entitled to an award of attorney’s fees from a defendant who unsuccessfully appealed such- a verdict. Because Woods is a prisoner, however, his award is subject to any applicable limiting provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d).

The defendant-appellant, Santos Cervantes, argues that Woods’ request for attorney’s fees is limited by § 1997e(d)(2) (hereinafter “ § (d)(2)”) of the PLRA. This provision imposes a cap on the amount of attorney’s fees that a prisoner can recover from defendant prison officials in certain circumstances. The cap is 150 percent of the monetary judgment. The cap applies to attorney’s fees incurred in conjunction with obtaining the award of a monetary judgment. We have held that it does not apply to…

dissenting:

Because it runs counter to the plain meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)’s text, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s circuit-splitting opinion. See Riley v. Kurtz, 361 F.3d 906, 916-18 (6th Cir.2004) (holding § 1997e(d)(2)’s 150% cap includes any attorney fees a prisoner incurs defending a monetary judgment on appeal).

I. I begin with § 1997(d)’s text, and give its terms their ordinary meaning. Synagogue v. United States, 482 F.3d 1058, 1061-62 (9th Cir.2007).

Section 1997e(d)(l) provides that in “any action brought by a prisoner ... in which attorney’s fees are authorized,” attorney fees “shall not” be awarded to a prevailing prisoner unless:

The word “action” includes both a trial and the subsequent appeal. See Resolution Trust Corp. v. Bayside Developers, 43 F.3d 1230, 1240 (9th Cir.1994) (“An appeal is not a ‘supplementary proceeding.’ It is a continuance of the same action.”) (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Mohamad v. Palestinian Auth., — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 1702, 1706 , 182 L.Ed.2d 720 (2012) (“In 2005, petitioners filed this action against respondents....”) (emphasis added); Leeson v. Transam. Disability Income Plan, 671 F.3d 969, 970 (9th Cir.2012)…