Hensley v. Eckerhart
United States Supreme Court
461 U.S. 424 (1983)
- Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD
Facts
A class of patients involuntarily confined at a state mental hospital (the patients) (plaintiffs) sued the hospital and its employees (defendants) in federal district court, alleging the hospital’s treatment and conditions were unconstitutional. Specifically, the patients claimed six areas contained constitutional violations: physical environment, treatment plans, least-restrictive environment, communication privileges, seclusion and restraint, and staffing. Although the district court held that the first five areas were unconstitutional, the court held that the staffing levels were adequate. The patients filed a request for attorney’s fees for all the hours spent on litigating the case, including the unsuccessful claim regarding staffing levels. The district court slightly reduced the amount of the fees for one attorney to account for the attorney’s inexperience and lack of good record-keeping. Otherwise, the district court granted the request for the attorney’s fees, concluding that the patients were the prevailing party and therefore could recover for unsuccessful claims. The court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Powell, J.)
Concurrence (Burger, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
