58 N.Y.2d 454 | NY | 1983
OPINION OF THE COURT
The issue on this appeal is the appropriate standard to be applied by the court before denying attorney’s fees under section 1988 of title 42 of the United States Code.
Petitioners brought this proceeding to challenge the validity of respondents’ rulings denying public assistance to petitioner’s minor children. The denial was based upon the State Commissioner’s Administrative Directive 80ADM-1 issued January 30, 1980. That directive, issued in response to our decision in Matter of Gunn v Blum (48 NY2d 58), provided that “in the absence of a demonstration of lack of need, financial assistance directed to dependent children may not be discontinued or reduced because their parents refuse to dispose of certain non-essential assets belonging to the parents.” It then went on to provide that it
Section 1983 of title 42 imposes liability on those who under color of law, custom or usage of any State or territory deprive citizens of the United States or other persons of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Federal Constitution and laws. Section 1988 was enacted in 1976 and provides in pertinent part: “In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of section[s] * * * 1983 * * * the court, in its discretion,
Accordingly, the judgment of Supreme Court insofar as appealed from and the order of the Appellate Division insofar as brought up for review should be reversed and the proceeding remitted to Supreme Court for the determination of counsel fees.
Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg, Meyer and Simons concur in Per Curiam opinion.
Judgment, insofar as appealed from, and order of the Appellate Division, insofar as brought up for review, reversed, with costs, and matter remitted to Supreme Court, Chemung County, for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion herein.
The legislative history of section 1988 of the 1976 Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act reveals that Congress was justifiably concerned about the meaning which various State and Federal courts would ascribe to the phrase “in its discretion”. Thus, in a commendable bit of foresight, Congress set forth precisely what it intended, to wit: “It is intended that the standards for awarding fees be generally the same as under the fee provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. A party seeking to enforce the rights protected by the statutes covered by I the Fees Act], if successful, ‘should ordinarily recover an attorney’s fee unless special circumstances would render such an award unjust’. (Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, 390 U.S. 400, 402 (1968)).” (S Rep No. 94-1011, 94th Cong, 2d Sess, p 4 [19761; 1976 US Code Cong & Admin News, p 5912; see, also, HR Report No. 94-1558, 94th Cong, 2d Sess, pp 5, 8 [19761.)
. Fees may also be awarded even though relief is awarded on State grounds if petitioner seeks relief on both State grounds and Federal grounds. In such cases, Congress intended that fees may still be available under the act: “To the extent a plaintiff joins a claim under one of the federal statutes covered by the Fees Act with a claim that does not allow attorney fees, that plaintiff if it prevails on the non-fee claim, is entitled to a determination on the other claim [if nonconstitutional] for the purpose of awarding attorney fees. In some instances, however, the claim with fees may involve a constitutional question which the courts are reluctant to resolve if the non-constitutional claim is dispositive. In such cases, if the constitutional claim for which fees may be awarded meets the 2-pronged Gibbs test, attorney fees may be allowed even if the court doesn’t decide the constitutional question” (HR No. 1558, 94th Cong, 2d Sess, p 4, n 7). The “Gibbs test” (see Mine Workers v Gibbs, 383 US 715, 725) is the same as the test for pendent jurisdiction. It permits an award of attorney’s fees if (1) the Federal claim has substance sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction and (2) the Federal and non-Federal claims “derive from a common nucleus of operative fact.” The test for substantiality is set forth in Hagans v Lavine (415 US 528, 537-538) which held that a Federal court is without jurisdiction only if the claim is “wholly insubstantial”, “obviously frivolous” or “obviously without merit” (see, generally, Wolf, Pendent Jurisdiction, Multi-Claim Litigation and the 1976 Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act, 2 Western New England L Rev 193, 234-240).