Cite as: 532 U. S. 598 (2001)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
The catalyst rule stemmed from modern legislation extending civil rights protections and enforcement measures. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 included provisions for fee awards to "prevailing parties" in Title II (public accommodations), 42 U. S. C. § 2000a-3(b), and Title VII (employment), § 2000e-5(k), but not in Title VI (federal programs). The provisions' central purpose was "to promote vigorous enforcement" of the laws by private plaintiffs; although using the two-way term "prevailing party," Congress did not make fees available to plaintiffs and defendants on equal terms. Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U. S. 412, 417, 421 (1978) (under Title VII, prevailing plaintiff qualifies for fee award absent "special circumstances," but prevailing defendant may obtain fee award only if plaintiff's suit is "frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation").
Once the 1964 Act came into force, courts commenced to award fees regularly under the statutory authorizations, and sometimes without such authorization. See Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society, 421 U. S. 240, 262, 270-271, n. 46 (1975). In Alyeska, this Court reaffirmed the "American Rule" that a court generally may not award attorney's fees without a legislative instruction to do so. See id., at 269. To provide the authorization Alyeska required for fee awards under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as well as under Reconstruction Era civil rights legislation, 42 U. S. C. §§ 1981-1983, 1985, 1986 (1994 ed. and Supp. V), and certain other enactments, Congress passed the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, 42 U. S. C. § 1988 (1994 ed. and Supp. V).
As explained in the Reports supporting § 1988, civil rights statutes vindicate public policies "of the highest priority," S. Rep. No. 94-1011, p. 3 (1976) (quoting Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc., 390 U. S. 400, 402 (1968) (per curiam)), yet "depend heavily upon private enforcement," S. Rep. No. 94-1011, at 2. Persons who bring meritorious civil rights claims, in this light, serve as "private attorneys
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