Zambrano v. Immigration And Naturalization Service

282 F.3d 1145 Marta ZAMBRANO; Margarita Rodriguez; Graciela Lopez; Andrea Ruiz; Martha OZUNA; Jorge Perdoma, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE; Edwin Meese; Alan Nelson, Defendants-Appellees. No. 00-16191. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted December 7, 2001. Filed March 7, 2002. Richard M. Pearl, Berkeley, CA, for appellants. William J. Howard and Antony W. Norwood, Office of Immigration Litigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, Edward J. Garcia, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-88-00455-EJG. Before: HUG, D.W. NELSON, and HAWKINS, Circuit Judges. HUG, Circuit Judge. OVERVIEW 1 This case presents the question of whether a court can reconsider the issue of subject matter-jurisdiction for purposes of awarding fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA") when the underlying action had previously been dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and that decision has become final. We conclude that it cannot. 2 Plaintiffs appeal the district court's denial of fees in this class action, which…