Brown et al v. The Commonwealth of Kentucky et al

Filing 140

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER Before: BOGGS, Circuit Judge; VAN TATENHOVE, District Judge; and BERTELSMAN, Senior District Judge: (1) Both groups of plaintiffs in this case are entitled to reasonable attorney fees as prevailing parties; and (2) Pursu ant to FED. R. CIV. P. 72, the defendants' objections regarding the reasonableness of the plaintiffs' requested attorney fees 129 & 131 are referred to the Honorable J. Gregory Wehrman, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, for his Report and Recommendation. The Magistrate Judge may require such additional briefing and hold such evidentiary or other hearings as he deems appropriate. Dated 1/27/2014.(CBD)cc: COR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
KENNY BROWN, individually
And in his official capacity
as the Boone County Clerk,
et al.,
Plaintiffs,
V.
KENTUCKY LEGISLATIVE
RESEARCH COMMISSION, et
al.,
Defendants.
___________________________
MARTIN HERBERT, et al.
Plaintiffs,
V.
KENTUCKY STATE BOARD OF
ELECTIONS, et al.,
Defendants.
___________________________

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Civil No. 2:13-cv-68
DJB-GFVT-WOB

Civil No. 3:13-cv-25
DJB-GFVT-WOB
MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER

*** *** *** ***
Before: BOGGS, Circuit Judge, VAN TATENHOVE, District Judge; and
BERTELSMAN, Senior District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on the motion of two sets
of plaintiffs’ attorneys for attorney fees (Docs. 129, 131)
arising out of two actions (later consolidated) to declare the
existing state legislative redistricting plan for the

Commonwealth of Kentucky unconstitutional and require the
creation and implementation of a new constitutional plan.
I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURE
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States provides:
No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall . . . deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
As applied to the design of state legislative districts,
this clause has been interpreted to mean that, as far as
possible, the rule of “one person, one vote” shall be
implemented.

See Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 558 (1964)

(citation and quotation omitted).

That is, each person’s vote

should have about the same weight as every other person’s vote.
This requires legislative districts to be drawn such that they
are as equal as possible in population.

Id. at 568.

Of course,

total equity is not possible, and some deviation is permitted.
Id. at 577.
Populations of legislative districts may change drastically
over time.

This fact requires periodic redistricting if the

“one person, one vote” Constitutional mandate is to be observed.
Section 33 of the Kentucky Constitutional, therefore, requires
that Kentucky’s legislative districts be reapportioned every 10
years—―shortly after the results of the United States decennial
census are available.
2

In 2002, the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a
redistricting plan.

In 2012, it adopted another, reflecting the

intervening shifts in population.

However, the Kentucky Supreme

Court struck down the 2012 plan, declaring that plan
unconstitutional under the Kentucky State Constitution because
the plan “fail[ed] to achieve sufficient population equality and
. . . fail[ed] to preserve county integrity.”

Legislative

Research Comm'n v. Fischer, 366 S.W.3d 905, 908 (Ky. 2012).

In

order to “ensur[e] the orderly process of the 2012 elections,”
the Kentucky Supreme Court ordered that the 2002 redistricting
plan remain in effect.

Id. at 919.

As of early 2013, the Kentucky General Assembly had not
adopted a new plan, leaving the 2002 plan prospectively in
effect for the 2014 legislative elections.

This was the

situation, even though the Kentucky General Assembly had met in
regular session in early 2013, and it was obvious that the
population disparities of the 2002 plan districts far exceeded
the parameters allowed by the “one person, one vote” doctrine.
The plaintiffs here, among other concerned citizens and
civic groups, emphatically protested that the 2002 plan, among
other deficiencies, unduly favored rural districts over urban
ones and did not reflect the drastic shifts in population that
had occurred from the former to the latter in the previous
decade.
3

These citizens urged the Governor to call a special session
of the General Assembly to correct the situation, but as of
June, 2013, no action had been taken.
On June 27, 2013, a group of citizens, known in this
litigation as the Brown plaintiffs, filed suit against the
Commonwealth of Kentucky1 and numerous agencies and officials
thereof, namely, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives (“Speaker Stumbo”), the
President of the Senate (“Senator Stivers”), the Board of
Elections2, the Legislative Research Commission (“LRC”), and the
Attorney General3.

The individual officials named were sued in

their official capacities only.
This action was filed in the Covington Division of this
Court.

It demanded the appointment of a three-judge district

court as provided in 28 U.S.C. § 2284 for redistricting suits; a
declaration that existing 2002 districts violated the Equal
Protection Clause; and an injunction requiring the defendants to
draw new, constitutional legislative districts.

1

The Commonwealth of Kentucky was dismissed via an Agreed Order entered by
this Court on August 5, 2013, but in essence remains a party because the
defendant officials were sued in their official capacities. (R. 94).

2

The Board of Elections Members (David Cross, John Hampton, Stephen Huffman,
Denise May, George Russell, and Roy Sizemore) were substituted for the Board
of Elections on August 5, 2013. (R. 93).

3

Pursuant to an Agreed Motion to Dismiss, the Attorney General was dismissed
on June 20, 2013. (R. 40).

4

On May 10, 2013, another group of citizens, known in this
litigation as the Herbert plaintiffs, filed a similar action in
the Frankfort division of this Court.

The officials named as

defendants varied somewhat from the Brown plaintiffs’ suit, but
the gist of this second action was the same.
On May 30, 2013, the Honorable Alice M. Batchelder, Chief
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit, appointed the three-judge district court as provided by
28 U.S.C. § 2284, consisting of the Honorable Danny J. Boggs,
United States Circuit Judge, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals; the
Honorable Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, United States District
Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky; and the Honorable William
O. Bertelsman, Senior United States District Judge, Eastern
District of Kentucky. (R. 25).
consolidated.

Subsequently, the two cases were

(R. 47).

On June 6, 2013, the Court issued an order setting a
pretrial and scheduling conference for June 21, 2013, in
Lexington, Kentucky.

(R. 27).

Thereafter, on June 21, 2013,

the Governor called a special legislative session to perform a
redistricting of the Commonwealth’s legislative districts.

This

session was directed to commence on Monday, August 19, 2013.
After hearing all parties at the June 21, 2013, pretrial
and scheduling conference, the three-judge district court
entered a scheduling order providing for limited discovery,
5

expedited summary judgment motions, and, most importantly, a
deadline for the parties to file any objections to any plan
enacted at the special legislative session. (R. 46; R. 49).
Subsequently, the plaintiffs filed a joint motion for
summary judgment seeking (1) a declaratory judgment that the
2002 legislative districts were unconstitutionally
malapportioned and (2) a permanent injunction barring the
defendants from using those districts in any future elections.
(R. 67-1).

This motion was opposed by various defendants on

various grounds, including their assertions that the plaintiffs
did not have standing; the plaintiffs could not meet the
requirements for a declaratory judgment or preliminary
injunction; the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by res judicata,
collateral estoppel, mootness, the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, and
the relevant statute of limitations.
86).

(R. 75; R. 81; R. 84; R.

Also, a number of the defendants maintained that no

violation of equal protection had taken place.
On Friday, August 16, 2013, this three-judge panel
unanimously granted the motion for summary judgment, declared
the 2002 redistricting plan unconstitutional, and enjoined its
use in future elections.

(R. 97).

That following Monday, August 19, 2013, the General
Assembly met pursuant to the Governor’s mandate to perform a
redistricting of the Commonwealth’s legislative districts.
6

On

August 23, 2013, House Bill 1, which redrew the Kentucky state
legislative districts, was enacted into law when it was signed
by the Governor.
Thereafter, the deadline established by this court for
filing objections to House Bill 1 passed with no objections
being filed.
On October 31, 2013, this Court, in a unanimous order,
PERMANENTLY RESTRAINED AND ENJOINED the defendants from
administering further elections pursuant to the 2002 plan and
retained jurisdiction to enforce the injunction.

(R. 128).

Additionally, this Court set deadlines for filing motions for
attorney fees, and such motions were timely filed by both sets
of plaintiffs.
II.

(R. 127).
THE ATTORNEY FEES MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS

The Brown plaintiffs moved for attorney fees in the amount
of $113,135.00 and costs of $1,516.42. (R. 129-1).

The Brown

plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a memorandum in support of this
motion, arguing that the plaintiffs they represented were
“prevailing parties,” as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and that
their hours and rates were reasonable.
Shortly thereafter, the Herbert plaintiffs filed a motion
seeking $58,622.50 in attorney fees and $4,940.83 in costs,
making substantially the same arguments as the Brown plaintiffs.
(R. 131-1).
7

The defendants have filed timely objections to these
motions, as follows:
1. All defendants argue that the plaintiffs were not
“prevailing parties” and that the fees requested were
unreasonable.
2. The Governor of the Commonwealth asserts that he is
entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity.
3. Senator Stivers and the LRC assert that they are
entitled to legislative immunity.
4. The Secretary of State, the Board of Elections
Members, and the Governor argue that any fees awarded
should be apportioned “equitably among all defendants”
with Senator Stivers, Speaker Stumbo, and the LRC
(“legislative defendants”) paying the greater portion.
A. Plaintiffs are “Prevailing Parties”
Defendants argue that neither group of plaintiffs were
“prevailing parties” within the meaning of the statutes
permitting the award of attorney fees to “prevailing parties” in
civil rights litigation.

See 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

Defendants contend that they would have enacted a
redistricting statute anyway, even if this lawsuit had not been
filed.

It is probable, however, that a timely special session

of the legislature was called only because the lawsuits had been
filed.
8

That is not the test, however, because it would require
application of the “catalyst theory” that was rejected by the
United States Supreme Court in Buckhannon Board & Care Home,
Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health & Human Services, 532 U.S.
598, 610 (2001).

There, the Court mandated that a “prevailing

party” was “one who has been awarded some relief by the court .
. . .”

Id. at 603.

The plaintiffs meet this definition because they obtained a
declaration that the 2002 plan was unconstitutional and an
injunction prohibiting its use in any future election.

As we

noted above, there was a substantial risk that if the 2013 plan
enacted by the legislature in the special legislative session
was declared unconstitutional for any reason (such as county
integrity), the 2002 plan would again be revived as it had been
in 2012.

Therefore, the relief obtained is significant.

Thus,

reasonable attorney fees are properly awarded since it is
required only that the plaintiffs obtain “some relief.”

Id.;

see also DiLaura v. Twp. of Ann Arbor, 471 F.3d 666, 670—71 (6th
Cir. 2006); Lux v. Judd, 868 F. Supp. 2d 519, 527 n.5 (E.D. Va.
2012).
Defendants rely on Hastert v. Illinois State Bd. of
Election Commissioners, 28 F.3d 1430 (7th Cir. 1994), for the
proposition that fees should be allowed only if the plaintiffs
succeeded in having their own plan adopted.
9

This Court,

however, agrees with the plaintiffs that Hastert is
distinguishable because, in Hastert, multiple groups of
plaintiffs offered rival plans and the plan that was ultimately
adopted only benefitted a few of the groups.

Id. at 1443.

In

fact, the Hastert Court found that the case before it was “not
ordinary litigation . . . [because] [t]he real dispute was among
the various plaintiffs.”

Id. at 1439.

situation before this Court.

That is not the

In any event, Hastert is

superseded by the Supreme Court’s definition of a “prevailing
party” in Buckhannon. 532 U.S. at 603.
B. The Eleventh Amendment
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
provides:
The Judicial power of the United States shall
not be construed to extend to any suit in law or
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of
the United States by Citizens of another State,
or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
Shortly after its ratification by the states, it was held
that, despite the language of the amendment, it applies to
citizens suing their own state.
But, it is well settled that it does not apply to actions
brought pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment, or legislation enacted thereunder, because
that Amendment, enacted immediately after the Civil War, is
directed at “state action” since it provides, “No State shall
10

make or enforce any law which shall . . . deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Also, Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment further provides,
“The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.”
Some of the “appropriate legislation” Congress has passed
to enforce the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment are
42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988.

The first of these sections

provides a right of action to enforce a citizen’s constitutional
rights against deprivation by a state or persons engaged in
“state action,” and the second provides for awards of attorney
fees to “prevailing parties” in such cases.
“[T]he U.S. Supreme Court has held that Congress, in the
exercise of its enforcement powers under Section 5 of the
Fourteenth Amendment, may authorize an award of attorney's fees
against a state without violating the Eleventh Amendment.”

1

ROBERT L. ROSSI, ATTORNEYS' FEES § 10:25 (3d ed. 2013) (citing
Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445 (1976)).

“Thus, numerous

cases have held or recognized that the Eleventh Amendment does
not bar an award of attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1988
ancillary to a grant of prospective or declaratory relief
against a state.”

Id. (citing Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122

(1980); Stevens v. Gay, 864 F.2d 113 (11th Cir. 1989); Glosen v.
Barnes, 724 F.2d 1418 (9th Cir. 1984); Helfrich v. Com. of Pa.,
11

Dept. of Military Affairs, 660 F.2d 88 (3d Cir. 1981); Se. Legal
Def. Grp. v. Adams, 657 F.2d 1118 (9th Cir. 1981)).
C. Apportionment of Fees
The Secretary of State, the Board of Elections Members, and
the Governor all assert that if this Court finds that the
plaintiffs are “prevailing parties,” the Court should apportion
the fees with the majority of the plaintiffs’ attorney fee
liability apportioned to the legislative defendants.

(R. 134 at

pp. 11-15; R. 136 at p. 7).
However, it should be noted that the Brown plaintiffs——the
only plaintiffs to assert claims against the legislative
defendants—―concede that the legislative defendants have
legislative immunity, the Brown plaintiffs have not prevailed
against the legislative defendants, and, thus, they are not
seeking attorney fees against the legislative defendants.

(R.

137 at p. 1, n.1).
Further, apportionment is not appropriate under these
circumstances.

In Turner v. D.C. Bd. of Elections & Ethics, 354

F.3d 890, 895 (D.C. Cir. 2004), the plaintiff argued on appeal
“that the district court erred as a matter of law in awarding
only a portion of his request for attorney's fees and expenses
under § 1988 based on apportioning most of the fees to an immune
defendant.”

Reversing the district court, the Turner court

stated, “[A] plaintiff's fully compensatory fee for claims
12

centered on a set of common issues against two or more jointly
responsible defendants should be assessed jointly and
severally.”

Id. at 898 (citation internal quotation omitted).

Further, that court held, “enforcers of unconstitutional laws
may be held liable for attorneys' fees even if their involvement
in the litigation has been minor . . . .”

Id. (citation

omitted).
“Section 1988 does not permit a court to inquire into
defendants' comparative fault where to do so obstructs Congress'
purpose of compensating successful private attorneys general.”
Id. (citation omitted). Thus, it would be inappropriate for this
Court to apportion the plaintiffs’ attorney fees under the
circumstances presented.
Additionally, as noted above, all individuals named as
defendants herein are sued in their official capacity only.
This is the same as suing the Commonwealth.
The defendants are apparently concerned about whose budget
should be assessed for the fees.

We believe it is inappropriate

for a federal court to unnecessarily insert itself in such
issues of state governance.

Therefore, all fees will be

assessed against the Commonwealth without apportionment among
its officials and agencies.

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D. Contentions that the Fees Sought are Excessive and/or
Duplicative
This requires a detailed and meticulous analysis of the fee
applications to review the propriety of the hourly rates
requested, unnecessary duplication by the two groups of
plaintiffs, etc.
It is customary in this district to refer such matters to
the United States Magistrate Judge assigned to the case for his
Report and Recommendation.

See 28 U.S.C. § 636; FED. R. CIV. P.

72.
Therefore, the Court being sufficiently advised, IT IS
ORDERED that:
(1) Both groups of plaintiffs in this case are entitled to
reasonable attorney fees as prevailing parties; and
(2) Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 72, the defendants’
objections regarding the reasonableness of the plaintiffs’
requested attorney fees are referred to the Honorable J. Gregory
Wehrman, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District
of Kentucky, for his Report and Recommendation.

The Magistrate

Judge may require such additional briefing and hold such
evidentiary or other hearings as he deems appropriate.

This 27th day of January, 2014.

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