Carolyn Kempfer v. St. Johns River Water Management District

This is an appeal from an order awarding attorneys fees to the appellee-defendants under the federal civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. sections 1983 and 1988. The appellant sued the city and city officers for damages incurred in an unlawful "taking," by the construction of a road on the appellants land without consent or compensation. The complaint included claims for violation of civil rights under section 1983 and for inverse condemnation. Each of the counts involved the same operative facts. On the day of trial, the court dismissed the civil rights claim with prejudice and proceeded solely on the state remedy for inverse condemnation. The plaintiff prevailed on that claim.