Cite as: 506 U. S. 103 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. We decide today whether a civil rights plaintiff who receives a nominal damages award is a "prevailing party" eligible to receive attorney's fees under 42 U. S. C. § 1988. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed an award of attorney's fees on the ground that a plaintiff receiving only nominal damages is not a prevailing party. Although we hold that such a plaintiff is a prevailing party, we affirm the denial of fees in this case.
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Joseph Davis Farrar and Dale Lawson Farrar owned and operated Artesia Hall, a school in Liberty County, Texas, for delinquent, disabled, and disturbed teens. After an Artesia Hall student died in 1973, a Liberty County grand jury returned a murder indictment charging Joseph Farrar with willful failure to administer proper medical treatment and
Attorney General of New Hampshire, Robert J. Del Tufo, Attorney General of New Jersey, Lacy H. Thornburg, Attorney General of North Carolina, Nicholas J. Spaeth, Attorney General of North Dakota, Lee Fisher, Attorney General of Ohio, Ernest D. Preate, Jr., Attorney General of Pennsylvania, James E. O'Neil, Attorney General of Rhode Island, T. Travis Medlock, Attorney General of South Carolina, Mark Barnett, Attorney General of South Dakota, Charles W. Burson, Attorney General of Tennessee, Paul Van Dam, Attorney General of Utah, Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Attorney General of Vermont, Mary Sue Terry, Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Eikenberry, Attorney General of Washington, Joseph B. Meyer, Attorney General of Wyoming, Jorge Perez-Diaz, Attorney General of Puerto Rico, Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson, Attorney General of Guam, and John Payton, Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia; for the County of Los Angeles by Richard P. Towne, De Witt W. Clinton, and Patrick T. Meyers; for Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc., et al. by George J. Franscell and Wayne W. Schmidt; for the Equal Employment Advisory Council by Ann Elizabeth Reesman, Robert E. Williams, and Douglas S. McDowell; for the National League of Cities et al. by Richard Ruda, Michael G. Dzialo, and Glen D. Nager; and for the Washington Legal Foundation et al. by Daniel J. Popeo and Richard A. Samp.
Talbot S. D'Alemberte, Eric B. Schnurer, and Carter G. Phillips filed a brief for the American Bar Association as amicus curiae.
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