Brandon Scroggin v. Credit Bureau of Jonesboro ( 2014 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 13-3346
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Brandon Scroggin
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Credit Bureau of Jonesboro, Inc.
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Jonesboro
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Submitted: August 5, 2014
Filed: August 15, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before BYE, SMITH, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Brandon Scroggin appeals an order of the district court,1 directing him to pay
attorney’s fees as a sanction for deliberately misusing the judicial process. After
1
The Honorable Susan Webber Wright, United States District Judge for the
Eastern District of Arkansas.
careful review, we find no abuse of the district court’s broad discretion to sanction
a party under its inherent powers. See Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 56-57
(1991) (party’s deliberate misuse of judicial process was sanctionable under court’s
inherent powers; amount of award was warranted by, inter alia, need to ensure abuses
would not be repeated); Kelly v. Golden, 352 F.3d 344, 352 (8th Cir. 2003) (district
court has broad discretion to decide appropriate sanctions); Lamb Eng’g & Constr.
Co. v. Nebraska Pub. Power Dist., 103 F.3d 1422, 1435 (8th Cir. 1997) (inherent
power depends on conduct during litigation, not on which party wins); see also Marx
v. Gen. Revenue Corp., 133 S. Ct. 1166, 1175-76 (2013) (district court has inherent
power to award attorney’s fees, notwithstanding attorney’s fees provisions of Federal
Debt Collection Practices Act).
Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
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