Beating Up Litigant is Not a Judicial Act
August 19, 2005
On Wednesday a California appellate court held that beating up a litigant was not a judicial act, and thus, the judge (actually, an attorney appointed to act as a discovery referee) who allegedly beat up the litigant was not entitled to absolute immunity from suit. Regan v. Price. The money quote:
A judge’s robe is not a king’s crown. The object of judicial immunity is to ensure that a judicial officer, in exercising the authority vested in him, shall be free to act upon his own convictions, without apprehension of civil liability. It was never intended to protect acts of thuggery against litigants merely because the assailant happens to be a judge.
Slip op. at 12 (citation omitted). Mike McKee of The Recorder provides excellent coverage of the story here.