Various Justices also expressed doubt, although less definitively, about the standing of the private plaintiffs.

Under Federal law, the private plaintiff can receive up to 25 percent of the ultimate award.

"They're still fighting tooth and nail against all the private plaintiffs," she said.

Ms. Rand said the cities were in an even better position than private plaintiffs.

The Federal Government and the private plaintiffs in the current case dispute this analysis.

The private plaintiffs asked the Court to apply the same standard to public institutions of higher education as were applied to elementary and secondary schools.

There are still claims against the company by private plaintiffs.

If a suit is successful, the private plaintiff receives part of the penalty as a bounty.

As a technical matter, the question is whether private plaintiffs can use a 19th-century federal civil rights law as their means of getting into court.

The first private plaintiffs to act on the provision filed cases in 1981.