638
VIRGINIA DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES Ginsburg, J., dissenting
The House Report corroborates: "[A]fter a complaint is filed, a defendant might voluntarily cease the unlawful practice. A court should still award fees even though it might conclude, as a matter of equity, that no formal relief, such as an injunction, is needed." H. R. Rep. No. 94-1558, at 7 (emphases added). These Reports, Courts of Appeals have observed, are hardly ambiguous. Compare ante, at 607-608 ("legislative history . . . is at best ambiguous"), with, e. g., Dunn v. The Florida Bar, 889 F. 2d 1010, 1013 (CA11 1989) (legislative history "evinces a clear Congressional intent" to permit award "even when no formal judicial relief is obtained" (internal quotation marks omitted)); Robinson v. Kimbrough, 652 F. 2d 458, 465 (CA5 1981) (same); American Constitutional Party v. Munro, 650 F. 2d 184, 187 (CA9 1981) (Senate Report "directs" fee award under catalyst rule). Congress, I am convinced, understood that " '[v]ic-tory' in a civil rights suit is typically a practical, rather than a strictly legal matter." Exeter-West Greenwich Regional School Dist. v. Pontarelli, 788 F. 2d 47, 51 (CA1 1986) (citation omitted).
IV
The Court identifies several "policy arguments" that might warrant rejection of the catalyst rule. See ante, at 608-610. A defendant might refrain from altering its conduct, fearing liability for fees as the price of voluntary action. See ante, at 608. Moreover, rejection of the catalyst rule has limited impact: Desisting from the challenged conduct will not render a case moot where damages are sought, and even when the plaintiff seeks only equitable relief, a defendant's voluntary cessation of a challenged practice does not render the case moot "unless it is 'absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur.' " Ante, at 609 (quoting Friends of Earth, Inc., 528
tion." (It nonetheless bears attention that, in line with the Court's description of Parham, a plaintiff could qualify as the "prevailing party" based on a finding or retention of jurisdiction.)
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