Cite as: 527 U. S. 343 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
With no such analogous language making explicit reference to the statute's temporal reach, it cannot be said that Congress has "expressly prescribed" § 803(d)'s temporal reach. Id., at 280.
2
Respondents agree that § 803(d) of the PLRA lacks an express directive that the statute apply retroactively, but they contend that the PLRA reveals congressional intent that the fees provisions apply prospectively only. That is, respondents insist that the PLRA's fees provisions demonstrate that they only apply to cases filed after the effective date of the Act. For respondents, this congressional intent is evident from a study of the Act's structure and legislative history.
According to respondents, a comparison of §§ 802 and 803 of the PLRA leads to the conclusion that § 803(d) should only apply to cases filed after its enactment. The attorney's fees provisions are found in § 803 of the PLRA, and, as described above, this section contains no explicit directive that it should apply to pending cases. By contrast, § 802— addressing "appropriate remedies" in prison litigation— explicitly provides that it applies to pending cases: "[This section] shall apply with respect to all prospective relief whether such relief was originally granted or approved before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this title." § 802(b)(1), note following 18 U. S. C. § 3626 (1994 ed., Supp. III). According to respondents, the presence of this express command in § 802, when coupled with § 803's silence, supports the negative inference that § 803 is not to apply to pending cases. Respondents buttress this "negative inference" argument by reference to the legislative history of the fees provisions. Respondents contend that when the attorney's fees limitations were originally drafted, they were in the section that became § 802 of the PLRA, which at the time contained language making them applicable to pending cases. Later, the fees provisions were moved to what be-
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