Mireles v. Waco
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox SCOTUS case
|Litigants=Mireles v. Waco
|ArgueDate=
|ArgueYear=
|DecideDate=October 21
|DecideYear=1991
|FullName=
|USVol=502
|USPage=9
|Docket=
|ParallelCitations=
|Prior=
|Subsequent=
|Holding=A state judge is absolutely immune to liability for acts committed while presiding over their court.
|Dissent=Stevens
|Dissent2=Scalia
|JoinDissent2=Kennedy
|PerCuriam=Yes
|NotParticipating=
|LawsApplied=
}}
Mireles v. Waco, {{ussc|volume=502|page=9|year=1991|el=no}}, was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a state judge is absolutely immune to liability for acts committed while presiding over their court.{{ussc|name=Mireles v. Waco|volume=502|page=9|year=1991|source=f}}.{{Cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Jethro K. |title=A Practical Companion to the Constitution |year=1999 |pages=239|chapter=Immunity From Suit}}
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.
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.
See also
References
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External links
- {{caselaw source
| case = {{ussc|name=Mireles v. Waco|volume=502|page=9|year=1991|el=no}}
| justia = https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/9/case.html
| cornell = https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/502/9
| findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/502/9.html
}}
Category:1991 in United States case law
Category:United States Supreme Court cases
Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court
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