Summary
holding that as applied to work performed after the passage of the Act, there is no retroactivity
Summary of this case from Collins v. Montgomery County Bd.Opinion
No. 96-2469
Filed August 8, 1997
Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, HANSEN and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.
ORDER
The motion of appellants for an award of attorneys' fees and expenses is granted, and we award $4,971 in fees and $308.41 in expenses. The Clerk of this Court is directed to request the Clerk of the District Court to insert this award in the mandate.
We hold that the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(3), applies to all hours worked in this case after the date of the passage of the Act. This is not a "retroactive" application of the new law. The situation in Jensen v. Clarke, 94 F.3d 1191, 1202-03 (8th Cir. 1996), was different. There, all of the hours involved had already been expended. Indeed, the order of the District Court that we were reviewing in Jensen was entered before the enactment of the PLRA.
We further hold that the RLRA, as applied in this summer, is within the power of Congress.
It is so ordered.