Supreme Court Prosecutorial Liability Case

USAToday.com Wednesday morning said, "Americans can sue almost anyone for almost anything. But they can't sue prosecutors-- Not when they hide evidence that could prove someone's innocence. Not when they violate basic rules designed to make sure trials are fair. Not even when those abuses put innocent people in prison.

"Almost 35 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors cannot face civil lawsuits over how they handle criminal cases in court, no matter how serious or obvious the abuses. Since then, courts have further limited the circumstances under which prosecutors — or their bosses — can be sued for civil rights violations," the article continued. That case, Imbler v. Pachtman (1976) -- one in which a man convicted of murder ultimately won his release with the revelation of newly discovered evidence -- said prosecutors have absolute immunity from civil rights lawsuits for their work in the courtroom, even while acknowledging that its ruling "leaves the genuinely wronged defendant without civil redress against a prosecutor whose malicious or dishonest action deprived him of liberty," but still saying that the alternative was worse: leaving prosecutors to fear a lawsuit, or even bankruptcy, every time they lose a trial.

A like situation is again before the Court in Connick v. Thompson. This "latest test of the extent of prosecutors' immunity," USAToday summarized, "began with a December 1984 murder and a separate carjacking three weeks later in New Orleans. John Thompson was convicted of both crimes and sentenced to die for the murder. A month before his execution date, his lawyers discovered that prosecutors had deliberately covered up a police lab report that showed he could not have committed the carjacking. Then they uncovered still more evidence that undermined his murder conviction."

Thompson was acquited in 2003, suing New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. and his office for failing to train the prosecutors who covered up that evidence four years later. A jury awarded him $14 million, which was naturally appealed, but affirmed, by both a Fifth Circuit panel and full en banc sitting in last year. Now the Supreme Court decides whether he can keep the $14 million. They heard the case Wednesday.

ScotusBlog posted this last Monday, and USAToday and Law.com both had follow-up articles yesterday.


Connick’s Petition for certiorari
Thompson Brief in opposition