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Title: Hey, Shoonra... Come in please!
Source: .
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Published: Jun 8, 2013
Author: .
Post Date: 2013-06-08 11:00:13 by Artisan
Keywords: None
Views: 885
Comments: 23

Hey Shoonra, youve said that youre a lawyer, and I have a lawyer question. Can you give me actual examples, as in, links, of a computation of damages from any civil rights court case? I understand the following but cant find any actual examples, such as, from actual lawsuits. Thanks!

F.R.C.P. 26(a)(1)(C) A computation of any category of damages claimed by the disclosing party, making available for inspection and copying as under Rule 34 the documents or other evidentiary material, not privileged or protected from disclosure, on which such computation is based, including materials bearing on the nature and extent of injuries suffered:

Poster Comment:

p.s. my great grandparents had the surname Grossman! :-)

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 20.

#18. To: Artisan (#0) (Edited)

The Rule cites are not much help. Rule 26 is the general duty to disclose to the opposition, Rule 34 is about disclosing documents to the opposition. These apply mostly to the lawsuit while in progress.

But the computation of damages usually does not require info belonging to the opposition. It involves things that the plaintiff can usually estimate or calculate on his own, usually one amount at the beginning of the lawsuit and maybe an amended amount when the lawsuit ends in his favor that will take into account the intervening passage of time. I would very much like to find for Artisan a court decision or law review article that discusses what data/method is used for this calculation but law schools just had their graduation, so the summer hours for their libraries are reduced.

Shoonra  posted on  2013-06-08   18:11:11 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

Shoonra, Thanks anyway. and purplerose you are a gem and very helpful as always. :-) i found a page explaining the categories of damages, here http://legal- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/damages. while i didnt find a precise explanation of how to calculate the amounts, the page was helpful.

But even more interesting is the broader topic which follows here. the following essay is about the fact that many people suffer rights violations that are 'minor' (they dont suffer shocking or eggregious injuies, but rather everyday violations which the cops get away with. because while they are conceded violations, they are not big money cases which is supposedly why congress enacted 42 U.S.C. Section 1988. But it obviously has not been adequate. The author, whoever he is, really gets it and has keen insight into the real world and the problems people face whe trying to right an injustice.

From http://jneedlel.home.mi ndspring.com/attyfees2.htm

Argument of Counsel

The public interest mandates that fundamental constitutional rights be aggressively enforced regardless of the size of an award of damages. Access to courts is essential for that enforcement. Meaningful access to courts requires competent counsel.(1)

Where damages are substantial and liability is likely, attracting competent counsel is relatively easy because a reasonable contingent fee can be anticipated. Where damages are insubstantial, however, the availability of a court awarded fee is the only anticipated fee and essential to attract competent counsel. See Davies, Julie, Federal Civil Rights Practice in the 1990's: The Dichotomy Between Reality and Theory, 48 Hastings Law Journal 197 (1997)(analyzing interviews with civil rights practitioners on the impact of fee shifting statutes). Reliance upon the pro bono efforts of private trial attorneys is insufficient to provide meaningful access to justice.(2)

The overwhelming majority of constitutional violations do not result in substantial damages. Examples of such constitutional violations include, but are not limited to, illegal stops for relatively brief periods of time - including racial profiling, illegal entry and searches of homes and cars, illegal arrests with very brief incarceration, and excessive force resulting in no serious injury. These cases and others involving dignitary interests have a high potential for nominal damages.(3) Without the potential for a fee in nominal damage cases, routine constitutional violations such as these, without substantial damages, will very rarely be litigated. The Civil Rights Attorney Fees Award Act was enacted to encourage such litigation.

The Civil Rights Attorney Fees Award Act of 1976, 90 Stat. 2641, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Section 1988, provides for a reasonable attorney fee to the prevailing party. In City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 577, 106 S.Ct. 2686, 91 L.Ed.2d 466 (1986), the Court acknowledged that the statute was enacted to encourage private attorney generals, and that Congress did not intend the recovery of fees to depend upon substantial monetary damages. This statute was enacted "specifically to enable plaintiffs to enforce the civil rights laws even where the amount of damages at stake would not otherwise make it feasible for them to do so." Id. (citing legislative history). The inability to vindicate constitutional rights due to a lack of resources damages the entire nation and not just the individual citizen. Specifically, the Court held:

Congress expressly recognized that a plaintiff who obtains relief in a civil rights lawsuit "does so not for himself alone, but also as a "private attorney general," vindicating a policy that Congress considered of the highest importance." House Report at 2 (quoting Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc., 390 U.S. 400, 402 (1968)). If the citizen does not have the resources, his day in court is denied him; the congressional policy which he seeks to assert and vindicate goes unvindicated; and the entire Nation, not just the individual citizen, suffers. 122 Cong.Rec. 33313 (1976) (remarks of Sen. Tunney). Because damages awards do not reflect fully the public benefit advanced by civil rights litigation, Congress did not intend for fees in civil rights cases, unlike most private law cases, to depend on obtaining substantial monetary relief. Rather, Congress made clear that it intended that the amount of fees awarded under [§ 1988] be governed by the same standards which prevail in other types of equally complex Federal litigation, such as antitrust cases, and not be reduced because the rights involved may be nonpecuniary in nature. Senate Report at 6 (emphasis added). Rivera at 575 (emphasis added). "Regardless of the form of relief he actually obtains, a successful civil rights plaintiff often secures important social benefits that are not reflected in nominal or relatively small damages awards." Id. at 574. In Washington State Republican Party v. Washington State Public Disclosure Com'n, 141 Wn.2d 245, 4 P.3d 808 (2000), this Court acknowledged that "[w]hen enacting §1988, Congress intended to facilitate actions for enforcement of civil rights." Citing the legislative history, the Court further acknowledged:

All of these civil rights laws depend heavily upon private enforcement, and fee awards have proved an essential remedy if private citizens are to have a meaningful opportunity to vindicate the important Congressional policies which these laws contain. In many cases arising under our civil rights laws, the citizen who must sue to enforce the law has little or no money with which to hire a lawyer. If private citizens are to be able to assert their civil rights, and if those who violate the Nation's fundamental laws are not to proceed with impunity, then citizens must have the opportunity to recover what it costs them to vindicate these rights in court. S.Rep. No. 94-1011, 94th Cong., 2nd Sess., reprinted in 1976 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 5908, 5910. Id. at 287-288. Section 1988's "chief purpose is to enable enforcement actions so that those whose rights are violated may obtain meaningful redress." Id. Private trial attorneys who accept their social responsibility to vindicate constitutional rights in cases with insubstantial damages are performing a substantial public service. Those attorneys act and were intended to act as private attorney generals.(4) The benefits of the litigation they bring transcend the benefits to an individual Plaintiff. It confers benefits to the entire society by vindicating constitutional rights and holding public officials accountable to the rule of law.

Artisan  posted on  2013-06-09   23:14:00 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

#21. To: Artisan (#20)

Artisan

That is a brilliant post! It surely infuriated me about the part where the judge only chose to award $1.00 for nominal fees. It appears that judge was not acting reasonable in his official capacity.

The rest of the article is fantastic.

I know you have a legal document that is due to be turned in by tomorrow. If I do not respond the rest of this afternoon or by pm it is because I've been out of internet service since Saturday and am waiting for someone to fix the problem as it certainly inconveniences me. I'm using the public library right now and you are only allowed 30 minutes of time per use. But hey its better than no access at all.

purplerose  posted on  2013-06-10 14:39:18 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

I had found a very few cases that mentioned, simply mentioned, the process of calculating the damages in a civil rights case. But they did not discuss the nuts and bolts of making the calculation. Mostly they indicated that the civil rights case, having been won on the merits, would be turned over briefly to a magistrate for the negotiations and arguing over the amount of damages.

Johnston v. Harris Flood Control District (5th Cir 1989) 869 F2d 1525, 51 Fair Empl.Prac.Cases 467, 50 Empl.Prac.Dec. ¶ 937 cert.den 493 US 1019; Jordan v. City of Cleveland (6th Cir 2006) 464 F3d 584, 98 Fair Empl.Prac.Cases 682.

Also a few law review articles:

"Monetary Recovery in Fair Housing Actions" by DeJong, 31 Washington & Lee L.Rev. 791 (1974); "Compensatory Damage Awards in Section 1983 Actions" 34 Wayne L.Rev. 1373 (1988); "Injury Free But Money for Me" by Brownstein, 84 Boston Univ. L.Rev. 1049 )2004).

I think there are some textbooks on handling civil rights lawsuits which may discuss the mechanics of computing the damage awards, as well as books on Remedies which discuss the calculating of damages in a wide variety of cases.

Shoonra  posted on  2013-06-10 20:51:12 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

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