Murphy v. Smith

Murphy v. Smith,, was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that an incarcerated person who is awarded attorney's fees in connection to their successful civil rights case must contribute up to 25% of their own winnings to paying that award.

Background

Charles Murphy, an incarcerated person, won a federal civil rights suit against two of his prison guards, including an award of attorney’s fees. Pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act's §1997e, which provides that in such cases "a portion of the judgment shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney's fees awarded against the defendant," the district court ordered Murphy to pay 10% of his judgment toward the fee award, leaving defendants responsible for the remainder. The Seventh Circuit reversed, holding that §1997e required the district court to exhaust 25% of the prisoner’s judgment before demanding payment from the defendants.