Justices Let Stand Stiff Fines Against Civil Rights Lawyers

In an action that some experts said could squelch civil rights lawsuits, the Supreme Court Monday let stand large fines against four civil rights attorneys as punishment for pressing unsuccessful racial discrimination cases.

The fines were imposed under a federal court rule created in 1983 to cut down on frivolous lawsuits. But several law professors charged that the fines are being used aggressively by conservative judges, especially in the South.

“It’s bad enough to lose a case, but now they can go after your bank account for having filed the lawsuit. That is frightening,” said University of Mississippi law professor George Cochran.

The high court let stand a $92,834 fine imposed on veteran civil rights attorney William Kunstler of New York and two co-attorneys. In 1989, they filed a suit on behalf of two Indian rights activists against the sheriff and other officials of Robeson County, N.C., contending that the officials were harassing the activists for leading a petition drive to oust the sheriff. The suit was withdrawn after the alleged harassment stopped.

Four months later, U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard fined the three attorneys, ruling that the suit was filed “for publicity” and “to embarrass state and county officials.”

Meanwhile, Julius L. Chambers, the director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York, was fined $34,250 for his role in a class-action lawsuit claiming that the U.S. Army had engaged in racial discrimination at Ft. Bragg, N.C. The fine, imposed by U.S. District Judge James C. Fox, was reduced on appeal to $20,000.

American Bar Assn. President John J. Curtin Jr., former Atty. Gen. Benjamin R. Civiletti and a host of religious and civil rights groups urged the Supreme Court to hear the cases. But without comment, the justices denied the appeals.