Gates v. Deukmejian

987 F.2d 1392 Jay Lee GATES; Charles Edward Puett; John Ronald Betram, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. George DEUKMEJIAN, Governor, Defendant and James Rowland, Director, Nadim Khoury, M.D.; Eddie Ylst; Kenneth Sheppard, M.D., Nicholas Poulos, Daniel Thor, Paul Morentz, H. Benton, Bruce Baker, A.R. Rotella, D. Michael O'Connor, Douglas G. Arnold, Clyde Murrey, Sylvia Blount, Defendants-Appellants. No. 91-15270. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 11, 1992. Decided Oct. 6, 1992. As Amended on Denial of Rehearing March 2, 1993. John G. Donhoff, Jr., Deputy Atty. Gen., San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellants. Samuel R. Miller and Sanford J. Rosen, Rosen, Bien & Asaro, San Francisco, CA, for plaintiffs-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Before: CHOY, FARRIS, and RYMER, Circuit Judges. CHOY, Circuit Judge: 1 A number of California state officials appeal the district court's award of over $6 million in attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 . We affirm the district court's decision in part, vacate and remand in part, and reverse in part.I. BACKGROUND 2 This dispute arises out of a…