People Against Police Violence v. City of Pittsburgh

People Against Police Violence v. City of Pittsburgh

Opinion

 [*228]  OPINION OF THE COURT

STAPLETON, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal we review a District Court's order awarding attorneys' fees to plaintiffs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b). Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the City of Pittsburgh's ("City's") ordinance regulating expressive activities in public forums. Plaintiffs' complaint sought declaratory and permanent injunctive relief; plaintiffs also filed a motion  [**2] for interim injunctive relief. The District Court granted plaintiffs' motion and issued a preliminary injunction which prohibited the City from enforcing the challenged ordinance and imposed temporary procedures to govern the issuance of permits for expressive activities in public spaces until the City passed a new ordinance. The District Court also directed the parties to meet and confer regarding the City's proposals to revise the ordinance and supervised that process as disputes arose. The Court lifted the preliminary injunction and closed the case only after the City passed a revised ordinance which, the parties agreed, corrected all of the alleged constitutional infirmities of the challenged ordinance.

Although several of our sister Courts of Appeals have confronted the question, this appeal requires us to determine for the first time whether 42 U.S.C. § 1988 allows a plaintiff to be the "prevailing party"  [*229]  when it achieves relief on the merits of its claims in the form of a preliminary injunction, but does not secure a final judgment in its favor. Under the circumstances of this case, we find that it does. Because we conclude that plaintiffs were the "prevailing party" in this  [**3] litigation and that the District Court's fee award was reasonable, we will affirm the order of the District Court.

Plaintiffs People Against PoliceViolence ("PAPV"), Thomas Merton Center, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Pittsburgh Branch, filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 raising First Amendment challenges to Chapter 603 of the Pittsburgh City Code, Pittsburgh's ordinance regulating parades and crowds in public forums. Plaintiffs alleged that on October 3, 2003, PAPV requested a permit from the City of Pittsburgh for a parade to the Allegheny County Courthouse and a rally at the Courthouse, to be held on November 1, 2003. The City informed PAPV that it would grant the permit only on the condition that PAPV pre-pay costs for police protection. Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit on October 28, 2003 -- four days prior to the planned event -- because, they asserted, as of that date the City had yet to notify PAPV of the amount of the costs being assessed or to issue the requested permit. The complaint also alleged that PAPV is a small organization which could afford no more than a nominal fee.

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