Sandra Day O'Connor

“ The courts of appeals have ample authority to protect the beneficiaries of Rule 11 sanctions by awarding damages and single or double costs under Rule 38-which they may do, as we have noted, when the appellant had no reasonable prospect of meeting the difficult standard of abuse of discretion. Beyond that protection, however, the risk of expending the value of one's award in the course of defending it is a natural concomitant of the American Rule, i.e., that "the prevailing litigant is ordinarily not entitled to collect a reasonable attorneys' fee from the loser." ”

“ Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 258, 294, 67 S.Ct. 677, 696, 91 L.Ed. 884 (1947) ("Violations of an order are punishable as criminal contempt even though . . . the basic action has become moot") ; Gompers v. Buck's Stove & Range Co., supra, 221 U.S., at 451, 31 S.Ct., at 502 (when main case was settled, action became moot, "of course without prejudice to the power and right of the court to punish for contempt by proper proceedings") . Like the imposition of costs, attorney's fees, and contempt sanctions, the imposition of a Rule 11 sanction is not a judgment on the merits of an action. ”

“ Rule 41 (a) (1) was not designed to give a plaintiff any benefit other than the right to take one such dismissal without prejudice.
Both Rule 41 (a) (1) and Rule 11 are aimed at curbing abuses of the judicial system, and thus their policies, like their language, are completely compatible. Rule 41 (a) (1) limits a litigant's power to dismiss actions, but allows one dismissal without prejudice. Rule 41 (a) (1) does not codify any policy that the plaintiff's right to one free dismissal also secures the right to file baseless papers. ”

“ Because a Rule 11 sanction does not signify a district court's assessment of the legal merits of the complaint, the imposition of such a sanction after a voluntary dismissal does not deprive the plaintiff of his right under Rule 41 (a) (1) to dismiss an action without prejudice. ”

“ We affirm the Court of Appeals' conclusion that a voluntary dismissal does not deprive a district court of jurisdiction over a Rule 11 motion and hold that an appellate court should review the district court's decision in a Rule 11 proceeding for an abuse of discretion. As Rule 11 does not authorize a district court to award attorney's fees incurred on appeal, we reverse that portion of the Court of Appeals' judgment remanding the case to the district court for a determination of reasonable appellate expenses. ”

“ It is well established that a federal court may consider collateral issues after an action is no longer pending. For example, district courts may award costs after an action is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1919. This Court has indicated that motions for costs or attorney's fees are "independent proceeding [s] supplemental to the original proceeding and not a request for a modification of the original decree." ”

“ If a pleading, motion, or other paper is signed in violation of this rule, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the person who signed it, a represented party, or both, an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay to the other party or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred because of the filing of the pleading, motion, or other paper, including a reasonable attorney's fee. ”

“ Respondents also moved for sanctions under Rule 11. In opposition to the Rule 11 motion, petitioner filed three affidavits setting forth the prefiling research that supported the allegations in the complaint. Id., at 16-17, 22-23, 24-27. In essence, petitioner's research consisted of telephone calls to salespersons in a number of men's clothing stores in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Petitioner inferred from this research that only one store in each major metropolitan area nationwide sold Hart, Schaffner & Marx suits. ”

“ A number of factors have led the majority of Circuits, see supra, at 399-400, as well as a number of commentators, see, e.g., C. Shaffer & P. Sandler, Sanctions: Rule 11 and Other Powers 14-15 (2d ed. 1988) (hereinafter Shaffer & Sandler) ”

“ Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous") ; Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc., 456 U.S. 844, 857-858, 102 S.Ct. 2182, 2190-2191, 72 L.Ed.2d 606 (1982) . ”