Jefferson County, Alabama v. William M. Acker, Jr., Senior Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama, and U. W. Clemon, Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
Decided June 21, 1999. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 98-10 · 527 U.S. 423 (1999) · Cited 428 times
Holding
Section 803(d)(3) limits attorney’s fees for post judgment monitoring services performed after the PLRA’s effective date, but does not limit fees for monitoring performed before that date.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 7–2.
Majority · 3
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- John Paul Stevens
Concurring · 4
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 2
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Howard v. Commissioners of Sinking Fund of Louisville · 344 U.S. 624 (1953)
- Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
- Willingham v. Morgan · 395 U.S. 402 (1969)
- Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
- United States v. New Mexico · 455 U.S. 720 (1982)
- Johnson v. Maryland · 254 U.S. 51 (1920)
- City of Detroit v. Murray Corp. of America · 355 U.S. 489 (1958)
- Ohio Oil Co. v. Conway · 281 U.S. 146 (1930)
- James v. Dravo Contracting Co. · 302 U.S. 134 (1937)
- Maryland v. Soper, Judge · 270 U.S. 9 (1926)
- Leslie Miller, Inc. v. Arkansas · 352 U.S. 187 (1956)
- Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
- Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
- United States v. Jorn · 400 U.S. 470 (1971)
- Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
- Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley · 211 U.S. 149 (1908)
- Dobbins v. Commissioners of Erie County · 41 U.S. 435 (1842)
- Edgar v. Mite Corp. · 457 U.S. 624 (1982)
- California v. Grace Brethren Church · 457 U.S. 393 (1982)
- Mesa v. California · 489 U.S. 121 (1989)
- Lawrence v. State Tax Comm'n of Miss. · 286 U.S. 276 (1932)
- Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
- United States v. County of Fresno · 429 U.S. 452 (1977)
- Arkansas v. Farm Credit Services of Central Arkansas · 520 U.S. 821 (1997)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Hibbs v. Winn · 542 U.S. 88 (2004)
- Osborn v. Haley · 549 U.S. 225 (2007)
- Dawson v. Steager · 586 U.S. 171 (2019)
- Kircher v. Putnam Funds Trust · 547 U.S. 633 (2006)
- Watson v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc. · 551 U.S. 142 (2007)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).