Daley v. Choate, et al.
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
The Tenth Circuit held that habeas corpus petitions challenging immigration detention are "civil actions" under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Consequently, the EAJA waives sovereign immunity and authorizes attorney’s-fee awards against the government in such cases. Affirming the district court’s $18,553.92 fee award to petitioner Eva Daley, the court expressly rejected contrary decisions from the Fourth and Fifth Circuits and aligned with the Second Circuit’s view.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a habeas corpus petition challenging immigration detention qualifies as a “civil action” under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), thereby permitting an award of attorney’s fees against the United States.
Circuit Positions
Immigration-detention habeas petitions are purely civil actions; EAJA waives sovereign immunity and authorizes attorney’s fees.
Immigration-detention habeas petitions are civil-criminal hybrids and therefore fall outside the EAJA’s fee-shifting provision.
Conflict Summary
The 2nd and 10th Circuits hold that habeas petitions attacking immigration detention are purely civil actions within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A), so EAJA fees are available. By contrast, the 4th and 5th Circuits characterize such petitions as civil-criminal ‘hybrid’ proceedings that are not wholly civil, concluding the EAJA does not waive sovereign immunity for fee awards in that context.