Instititutional Repository of the University of PittsburghThe judges in the Luzerne County corruption case are probably immune from civil liability, Professor Arthur Hellman told the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. The account begins:
We checked in with Pitt law professor and expert on the judiciary Arthur Hellman to talk about this strange notion of judicial immunity.
Hellman indeed backed the notion that the plaintiffs might end up high and dry. He said that while the immunity isn’t absolute, it extends to actions taken while judges were engaged in a judicial function.
Hellman explained that the Supreme Court in 1978 upheld the notion of judicial immunity in a case in which an Indiana judge ordered the forced sterilization of a woman, a naked breach of state law. Because the judge was acting under his stautorily granted jurisdiction, he was covered by the immunity. The rule does not, Hellman continued, apply to judges working in official but non-judicial capacities. For example, a judge would not be immune from suit if he or she fired an employee for discriminatory reasons.
