Buffin et al v. City and County of San Francisco et al
Filing
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ORDER GRANTING PARTIES STIPULATED REQUEST TO ENTER FEES AGAINST STATE OF CALIFORNIA re 382 Notice filed by Riana Buffin, Crystal Patterson. Signed by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on 3/23/2020. (fs, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/23/2020)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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RIANA BUFFIN, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs,
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vs.
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, ET
AL.,
CASE NO. 15-cv-04959-YGR
ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ STIPULATED
REQUEST TO ENTER FEES AGAINST STATE
OF CALIFORNIA
Re: Dkt. No. 382
United States District Court
Northern District of California
Defendants.
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The Court assumes familiarity with the lengthy procedural history of this action. On
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November 22, 2019 (Dkt. No. 382), plaintiffs and defendant the San Francisco Sheriff (“Sheriff”)
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filed a joint Notice of Agreement as to an award to plaintiffs of attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant
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to 42 U.S.C. section 1988, based upon the parties’ agreement that plaintiffs are prevailing parties
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in this litigation. They seek Court approval of their agreement given that the case granted
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injunctive relief to a certified class. The parties stipulated to an award of $1,950,000.00
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encompassing attorneys’ fees and costs, a significant reduction from the lodestar they represent
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plaintiffs accrued in the course of the litigation. The only remaining issue for the Court to decide
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is whether the award of attorneys’ fees should be paid by the State of California. The parties
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contend that, because the Sheriff enforced the Bail Schedule in accordance with state law the
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Sheriff was a state actor and the State is responsible for the attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in
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the litigation.
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The Court issued an order on December 3, 2019, inviting the State to submit a brief on its
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position as to the propriety of an order directing the State to pay the attorneys’ fees and permitting
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the parties to respond. (Dkt. No. 383.) Having considered the State’s position statement and the
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responses of the parties, and for the reasons stated herein, the Court ORDERS that the State is
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required to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to plaintiffs in the amount of $1,950,000.00
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pursuant to section 1988.
The United States Supreme Court in Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978), held that an
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award under section 1988 may be directed against the State even though the State or one of its
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departments was not named as a party when a plaintiff’s suit is “for all practical purposes,
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(brought) against the State itself.” 437 U.S. at 700. While the Eleventh Amendment may bar an
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action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 directly against a state, it does not bar an attorneys’ fee award
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against a state under section 1988 when the defendant’s actions were as an agent of the state. Id.
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Subsequent to Hutto, the Supreme Court has confirmed that Eleventh Amendment
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immunity does not apply to an award of attorneys’ fees ancillary to a grant of prospective relief.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Missouri v. Jenkins by Agyei, 491 U.S. 274, 280 (1989). While liability against a government
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official in their personal capacity or legislative capacity will not permit an award of attorneys’ fees
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to run against the state, where state actors are sued in their official capacity, an award of fees may
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run against the state. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 170–71 (1985) (no state liability for
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fees where official sued in personal capacity is “fully consistent with Hutto”); Supreme Court of
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Virginia v. Consumers Union of U. S., Inc., 446 U.S. 719, 736–38 (1980) (“enforcement
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authorities against whom § 1983 judgments have been entered would ordinarily be charged with
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attorney’s fees” but not officials who are immune because they are acting in in their legislative
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capacity).
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Relying on Hutto, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s authority to add state
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officials as parties post-judgment in order to compel a state to pay attorneys’ fees to a prevailing
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party under section 1988. Spain v. Mountanos, 690 F.2d 742, 743-45, 746 (9th Cir. 1982).
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Similarly, the Fifth and Seventh Circuits have held that a fee award properly may be entered
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against the state alone when both state and county enforcement officials are sued for their actions
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enforcing a challenged state law. Herbst v. Ryan, 90 F.3d 1300, 1302, 1306 (7th Cir. 1996)
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(affirming district court order directing payment by State of Illinois of attorneys’ fees incurred in
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litigation naming two state officials and 102 county district attorneys as defendants); Echols v.
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Parker, 909 F.2d 795, 800 (5th Cir. 1990) (affirming order directing State of Mississippi to pay
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attorney fee award though state was not a party where action of local officials “much like that of a
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county sheriff in enforcing a state law, may more fairly be characterized as the effectuation of the
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policy of the State … embodied in that statute, for which the citizens of a particular county should
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not bear singular responsibility,” quoting Familias Unidas v. Briscoe, 619 F.2d 391, 404 (5th Cir.
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1980)).
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Early in this litigation, the Court determined the State and the Attorney General must be
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dismissed because they were not proper parties under the Supreme Court’s authority in Ex Parte
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Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). (See Order at Docket No. 55.) As stated in Ex Parte Young, the
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Eleventh Amendment prohibits a civil rights plaintiff from suing the state or its agencies directly
when seeking to enjoin enforcement of a challenged law, but instead requires such plaintiffs to
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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name the officials responsible for enforcement of the challenged law as defendants. See id. at 157
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(in order to qualify for exception from Eleventh Amendment immunity, suit must be against
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official who has “some connection with the enforcement of the act”); Ass'n des Eleveurs de
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Canards et d'Oies du Quebec v. Harris, 729 F.3d 937, 943 (9th Cir. 2013) (“Plaintiffs are plainly
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barred by the Eleventh Amendment from suing the State of California in federal court” but not
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from suing Attorney General who directly supervises every district attorney charged enforcement
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of the challenged state law). In its rulings, the Court concluded that the official who acted on
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behalf of the State in enforcing the challenged bail schedule—and thus the proper defendant under
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Ex parte Young—was the Sheriff. (See Dkt. No. 99.) At the same time, the Court dismissed the
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City and County of San Francisco because “[t]he State is the relevant actor when the Sheriff
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detains a person who does not pay bail,” the bail schedule being a product of state law, not an
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alleged “municipal policy or practice for which the County may be held liable.” (id. at 15; see also
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id. at 14 [“The Sheriff is not acting on behalf of the County.”].) In other words, the Court found
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that the Sheriff acts on behalf of the State when enforcing the Superior Court’s bail schedule by
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detaining those who are unable to pay the applicable amount. (Id. at 15.) Thus, the enforcement
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actions challenged here were undertaken by the Sheriff as an agent of the State.1
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On November 23, 2016, the Court granted the Attorney General leave to intervene. The
Attorney General declined to do so. (Dkt. No. 109.)
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Under Hutto and its progeny, the State of California is liable for the reasonable attorneys’
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fees incurred by the prevailing parties here in their action against the Sheriff sued for enforcement
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of the State policy embodied in the bail schedule. The State’s response offers no authority or
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analysis to undermine this conclusion. That the State could not be liable on the merits due to
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Eleventh Amendment immunity and Ex Parte Young, and was dismissed by this Court for that
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reason, is of no moment.
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The State’s response raised no objection to the stipulated amount of attorneys’ fees and
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costs agreed upon by plaintiffs and the Sheriff. Therefore, based upon the stipulation of the
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parties, good cause appearing, and in accordance with 42 U.S.C. section 1988, the Court ORDERS
the State of California to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs in the total amount of
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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$1,950,000.00.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 23, 2020
YVONNE GONZALEZ ROGERS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
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