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Article: Power, policy, and the Hyde Amendment: ensuring sound judicial interpretation of the criminal attorneys' fees law.
- Article from:
- William and Mary Law Review
- Article date:
- December 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 College of William and Mary, Marshall Wythe School of Law. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Hyde Amendment(1) brings something new to criminal justice. Enacted in late 1997, this law allows federal courts to award attorneys' fees to prevailing criminal defendants who show that the position of the United States government was "vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith." Any awards under this statute come out of the budget of the particular offending federal agency, most likely the United States Attorney's Office.
The Hyde Amendment seeks to apply to criminal suits the well-established procedures and limitations of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA),(2) which provides for similar awards against the Government in civil suits.(3) The proponents of the ...