Description
When a defense lawyer failed to appear for a scheduled hearing, the judge not only issued a bench warrant for his arrest, but instructed the police sent to arrest him to "rough him up a little" to teach him not to skip court dates. Although this was entirely unprofessional and possibly criminal, the judge was held, by the Supreme Court, to have absolute immunity from a lawsuit arising from the resulting beating, because the misbehavior occurred entirely within his activities as a judge presiding over a court. [1]
Stevens dissented because he did not believe that ordering police officers to use excessive force was a judicial act. Justices Scalia and Kennedy dissented because the case did not receive briefing and argument before the decision; additionally, they believed the situation was so rare that a Supreme Court decision on the subject was unnecessary. [1]
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