108
Opinion of the Court
When the sole relief sought is money damages, we fail to see how a party 'prevails' by winning one dollar out of the $17 million requested." 941 F. 2d, at 1315 (citations omitted) (quoting Garland, supra, at 791-792).1
The majority reasoned that even if an award of nominal damages represented some sort of victory, "surely [the Farrars'] was 'a technical victory . . . so insignificant and . . . so near the situations addressed in Hewitt and Rhodes, as to be insufficient to support prevailing party status.' " 941 F. 2d, at 1315 (quoting Garland, supra, at 792).2
The dissent argued that "Hewitt, Rhodes and Garland [do not] go so far" as to hold that "where plaintiff obtains only
1 Although the Fifth Circuit's original opinion on liability made clear that Joseph Farrar alone was to receive nominal damages for violation of his due process rights, Farrar v. Cain, 756 F. 2d 1148, 1152 (1985), the District Court on remand awarded attorney's fees not only to petitioners as coadministrators of Joseph Farrar's estate but also to Dale Farrar in his personal capacity, see App. to Pet. for Cert. A-12. The Fifth Circuit reversed Dale Farrar's fee award on the apparent assumption that he too had received nominal damages. Dale Farrar has not petitioned from the Fifth Circuit's judgment in his personal capacity, and the only issue before us is the award of attorney's fees to Dale Farrar and Pat Smith as coadministrators of Joseph Farrar's estate.
2 The majority acknowledged its conflict with the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits. 941 F. 2d, at 1316-1317, and nn. 22 and 26. See Ruggiero v. Krzeminski, 928 F. 2d 558, 564 (CA2 1991); Coleman v. Turner, 838 F. 2d 1004, 1005 (CA8 1988); Scofield v. Hillsborough, 862 F. 2d 759, 766 (CA9 1988); Nephew v. Aurora, 830 F. 2d 1547, 1553, n. 2 (CA10 1987) (en banc) (Barrett, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 485 U. S. 976 (1988); Garner v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 807 F. 2d 1536, 1539 (CA11 1987). After the Fifth Circuit decided this case, the First and Ninth Circuits rejected the Fifth Circuit's position and held that a nominal damages award does confer prevailing party status on a civil rights plaintiff. Domegan v. Ponte, 972 F. 2d 401, 410 (CA1 1992); Romberg v. Nichols, 970 F. 2d 512, 519-520 (CA9 1992), cert. pending, No. 92-402; 970 F. 2d, at 525-526 (Wallace, C. J., concurring). The Fourth Circuit has adopted a position consistent with the Fifth Circuit's. Lawrence v. Hinton, 20 Fed. Rules Serv. 3d 934, 936-937 (1991); Spencer v. General Elec. Co., 894 F. 2d 651, 662 (1990) (dicta).
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