American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Miller

Six media corporations (“Media Corporations”) filed a civil rights suit against the Nevada Secretary of State pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , seeking declaratory and in-junctive relief allowing them to conduct exit polling in the November 2006 general election. Specifically, the Media Corporations argued that section 293.740 of the Nevada Revised Statutes impermissibly restricted their free speech rights in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, by making it unlawful for any person to speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or her ballot within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. In a thorough opinion consistent with circuit precedent, see Daily Herald Co. v. Munro, 838 F.2d 380, 384 (9th Cir.1988), the district court granted the Media Corporations’ motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoined the Nevada Secretary of State from prohibiting the Media Corporations’ exit polling activities. The district court subsequently granted the Media Corporations a permanent injunction.

Thereafter, the Media Corporations sought attorneys’ fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (b). The district court denied the request for fees. Its findings of fact and…