Perez v. Westchester Cty. Dep't of Corr., No. 08-4245

In appeals from an attorney's fees award in Muslim inmates' civil rights suit arising from defendants' refusal to provide them Halal meat, the fees award is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs were prevailing parties, as they achieved a material alteration in the legal relationship between the parties, and the so-ordered settlement bore judicial imprimatur; and 2) the Prison Litigation Reform Act's fee cap applied even though some plaintiffs were released from prison after the filing of the suit but before the successful resolution of the litigation.

Read Perez v. Westchester Cty. Dep't of Corr., No. 08-4245

Appellate Information

Argued: July 10, 2009

Decided: November 19, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Calabresi

Counsel

For Appellants:

Mary Lynn Nicolas and Martin G. Gleeson, Office of the Westchester County Attorney, White Plains, NY

For Appellees:

Richard Cohen, Donia F. Sawwan, Samantha H. Evans, Kathleen M. Aiello, Matthew Bettinger,  Fox Rothschild LLP, New York, NY