California protesters win fees, costs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal court in California granted protesters $230,000 in attorney fees and $19,000 in costs following the conclusion of their complaint alleging the Sacramento Police Department reacted more violently to their protests, which stemmed from the killing of George Floyd, than it did to other protests. The county and police department agreed to pay $350,000 to settle the protesters’ surviving claims for monetary damages, but a bench trial on their ended with a finding in favor of the county and police department. The protesters’ request for $2.58 million in fees is unreasonable, as there are many “egregious time entries,” evidence of duplication of work across the different firms that worked on the case and hourly rates that are too high.