| Court: | 9th Circuit Court |
| Facts: | Combs racially discriminates against black tenants. A giant penalty ($24K compensatiry, $74K punitive, and $508K attorney's fees) is imposed. |
| Posture: | Found liable at trial, giant penalty is imposed. Appeal. |
| Issue: | Did the court abuse its discretion imposing this penalty? |
| Holding: | No. |
| Rule: | The Supreme Court has specifically said that awards of attorney's fees in civil rights cases don't have to be proportionate with other damages. |
| Reasoning: | There's really nothing here that suggests the court abused its discretion. Most of the opinion is spent explaining why Fair Housing has standing to sue. |
| Dicta: | |