United States Sixth Circuit

In plaintiff's suit challenging the validity of a Kentucky law placing limits on protests at military funerals, claiming that the law violated his free-speech rights, district court's denial of plaintiff's request for fees following dismissal of the lawsuit as moot after Kentucky repealed the challenged provisions of the law (six months after district court's grant of plaintiff's motion to enjoin enforcement of the law on a preliminary basis) is reversed and remanded as the district court's explanations for denying fees in this case do not hold up because, although caselaw makes clear that when a claimant wins a preliminary injunction and nothing more, that usually will not suffice to obtain fees under section 1988, what remains unclear is when the occasional exceptions to that rule should apply, and the district court must undertake a contextual and case-specific inquiry.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/22/2010
• Decided 07/29/2010
• Published 07/29/2010

Judges

• SUTTON

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• William E. Sharp, Tad Thomas