Court Limits Payment of Legal Fees in Rights Cases

By Mark Walsh

WASHINGTON--Civil-rights plaintiffs who win only small damage amounts will find it harder to make defendants pay the plaintiffs' legal fees, as a result of a ruling last month by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The High Court on Dec. 14 ruled unanimously that plaintiffs winning even minor victories or small monetary judgments should be considered "prevailing parties'' under the Civil Rights Attorneys Fee Awards Act of 1976. That law, which requires defendants in some civil-rights cases to pay the legal costs of successful plaintiffs, has encouraged many suits by those who otherwise could not afford lawyers.

The Court ruled on a 5-to-4 vote, however, that plaintiffs who win only nominal damages--in the case at hand, $1--are generally not...