Rivera v. City of Riverside

679 F.2d 795 Santos RIVERA, Jennie Rivera, Donald Rivera, Jerome Rivera, Lee Roy Rivera, Mark Larabee, Enrique Flores, Manual Flores, Jr., Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. CITY OF RIVERSIDE, Linford L. Richardson, Michael S. Watts, Dan Peters, Gerald Miller, Robert Plait, Defendants/Appellants. No. 81-5362. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 2, 1982. Decided June 15, 1982. Jonathan Kotler, Kotler & Kotler, Beverly Hills, Cal., for defendants/appellants. Gerald P. Lopez, Los Angeles, Cal., argued, for plaintiffs/appellees; Roy B. Cazares, Bonita, Cal., on brief. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before HUG, TANG, and PREGERSON, Circuit Judges. PREGERSON, Circuit Judge: 1 42 U.S.C. § 1988 provides: "In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of sections 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986 of this title ... the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." 2 This appeal presents the question whether the amount of attorney's fees the district court awarded was reasonable under section 1988 where that…