Jaturun Siripongs v. Gray Davis, Governor of California Arthur Calderon, Warden of California State Prison at San Quentin

Jaturun Siripongs appeals the district court’s denial of his request for attorneys’ fees under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d). We affirm.

I. Factual Background

Siripongs was convicted in 1983 of the murders of Pat Wattanaporn and Quach Nguyen and was sentenced to death. After bringing multiple direct and collateral challenges to his conviction and sentence, Siripongs was scheduled to be executed by the State of California. The date of his execution initially was set as November 17, 1998.

In late October 1998, Siripongs filed a clemency petition with then-California Governor Pete Wilson. Pursuant to the recommendation of the Board of Prison Terms, Governor Wilson denied Siripongs’ request for clemency. Shortly thereafter, Siripongs filed in federal district court an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . That suit forms the basis for the instant fee dispute.

In his suit, Siripongs claimed that he was denied due process and subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by Governor Wilson’s clemency proceedings because (1) he was misled about the type of evidence the Governor would consider in making the clemency decision, and thus did not submit…