James v. City of Boise

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
15-493	Idaho	Not Argued	Jan 25, 2016	n/a	Per Curiam	OT 2015

Holding: Under federal law, a court has discretion to “allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee” in a civil rights lawsuit filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Because the Supreme Court has interpreted this to allow a prevailing defendant to recover fees only if “the plaintiff’s action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation,” the Idaho Supreme Court erred when it concluded that it was not bound by this interpretation and awarded fees under federal law to a prevailing defendant without first making this determination.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded in a per curiam opinion on January 25, 2016.

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Oct 15 2015	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 18, 2015)
Oct 27 2015	Waiver of right of respondents City of Boise, Idaho, et al. to respond filed.
Nov 9 2015	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of November 24, 2015.
Nov 13 2015	Response Requested . (Due December 14, 2015)
Dec 9 2015	Brief of respondents City of Boise, Idaho, et al. in opposition filed.
Dec 18 2015	Reply of petitioner Melene James filed.
Dec 22 2015	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 8, 2016.
Jan 11 2016	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 15, 2016.
Jan 19 2016	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 22, 2016.
Jan 25 2016	Petition GRANTED. Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Opinion per curiam. (Detached Opinion)
Feb 26 2016	Judgment Issued
Feb 26 2016	Mandate Issued

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The Supreme Court released additional orders from the January 11 conference on Monday; the justices called for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in CSX Transportation Inc. v. Alabama Department of Revenue, Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation Inc. and Toshiba Corp. v. Automotive Industries Pension Trust Fund.
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James v. City of Boise

Featured Posts

Relist Watch – John Elwood

Opinion analysis: Justices uphold arbitration exemption for transportation workers in rare victory for arbitration opponents – Ronald Mann

Argument analysis: When is the government not really the government for immunity from tort liability? – Gregory Sisk

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Merits Case Pages and Archives

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Conference of January 18, 2019

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Peabody Award

Sigma Delta Chi

National Press Club Award

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American Gavel Award

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