HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-82-33 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING AN AMENDMENT
OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1871 AND
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY'S FEES
AWARDS ACT OF 1976.
WHEREAS, Section 1983 (42 U.S.C. §1983), as
originated in the Civil Rights Act of April 20, 1871,
was enacted by Congress pursuant to ~5 of the Fourteenth
Amendment in order to enforce the Amendment; and
WItEREAS, under precedent of Maine v. Thiboutot,
448 U.S. 1.(1.980), ~].983 actions also may be brought for
violations of statutes unrelated to civil or equal rights; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, Owen v.
CiKx of Independence, 445 U.S. 622 (1980), created a rule
of absolute liability for municipal defendants in S1983 suits,
while retaining the good faith defense for municipal officers
and employees in those same suits; and
WHEREAS, the application of Owen to hold a
municipality liable under S1983 for the decisions of its'
officers and employees may cripple the ability of municipa!
governmental entities, agencies and departments to make
responsible decisions, free from the threat of constant litigation
and the imposition of substantial damage awards upon subsequent
judicial scrutiny of those governmental decisions; and
WHEREAS, the cost to municipalities of defending
prima facie ~1983 suits, regardless of the me'rits of the
actions and the availability of alternative state or statutory
remedies, is further burdening the already strained budgets
of municipal governments, and may do so more where a municipality
is forced to employ mul.t.iPlecounsel inasmuch as representation
of various municipal defendants by sole counsel may be held to
constitute a conflict of interest, as was the result in
Shadid v. Jackson, 521 F.Supp. 87 (E.D. Tex. 1981); and
WHEREAS, in all ~1983 actions, attorney's fees are
available to prevailing plaintiffs under the Civil Rights
Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, thus fostering the
allegation of §1983 violations whenever possible to supple-
ment other legal claims and encouraging the initiation and
maintenance of frivolous and burdensome suits against
municipalities at the expense, ultimately, of municipal
taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, subsequent decisions of the United States
Supreme Court in the cases of City of Newport vo Fact Concerts,
Inc., 453 U.S. 247 (1981), and Middlesex CountX Sewerage
Authority v. National Sea Clammelrs, 453 U,S. 1 (1981), have
established that punitive damages are not available against
municipalities in ~1983 cases and federal statutes which do
not contain a private right of action cannot be the basis for
~1983 suits against municipalities, but do not otherwise
clearly limit the holdings and the implications in Owen, Maine
v. Thiboutot, and Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U,S. 527 (1981).
NOW, TIIEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA, that it fully supports Senate
Bills S.584, amending 42 U.S.C. ~1983, 1988, to provide
that municipal defendants shall haYe available to them a good
faith defense on the same terms as such a defense is available
to their municipal employees; to limit the scope of the applic-
able laws defining rights, privileges and immunities to civil
rights laws; and to codify the standard by which attorney's
fees could be awarded to prevailing defendants, limit the
award of attorney's fees for most claims, prohibit the use
of multipliers in awarding attorney's fees, and permit
consideration of the rejection of a settlement offer in de~
termining the award of attorney's fees in certain circumstances.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that'the foregoing Resolution was
passed by the City Council of the City of Sebastian,
Florida, on the d'~ day of ~j~ , 198__~_~,
CITY OF SEBASTIAN, FLORI'DA
A~TT/~T: j?,~ By~p~t~~ .....
~/~~c~ : ~'lood, Jr.; Ma3~6r
City Clerk '
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