Thorsted
Thorsted v. Munro
Opinion
Lead Opinion
ORDER
The dispositive order filed January 4,1996, is ordered published.
ORDER
The district court in this case held unconstitutional Washington’s Initiative Measure 573, which is codified at Wash.Rev.Code ch. 29. Thorsted v. Gregoire, 841 F.Supp. 1068 (W.D.Wash.1994). The Washington statute is, in effect, a term-limits provision. In light of the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1842 , 131 L.Ed.2d 881 (1995), we affirm the district court’s finding of unconstitutionality. Because Thornton was decided on the basis of the Qualifications Clauses of the United States Constitution, U.S. Const., art. I, §§ 2 & 3, we affirm the district court solely on that ground. We do not reach the district court’s alternative holding, that the state statute is also unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
We also affirm the district court’s denial of attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 . The court concluded that a combination of seven circumstances present in this case justified a denial of fees to plaintiffs, although they were “prevailing parties” on their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. 841 F.Supp. at 1084 ; see Hensley v.…