basis for its holding that any investigative activity of the Attorney General conducted for the purpose of gathering information "necessary to a prosecu- tor's decision to initiate a criminal prosecution" is absolutely immune from civil suit.
The court cited Imbler, observing that “absolute immunity protects a prosecutor from § 1983 liability for virtually all acts, regardless of motivation, associated with his function as an advocate.
absolute immunityProsecutors are absolutely immune from liability, which means that they cannot be sued for their decisions as prosecutors, no matter how outrageous their conduct. The Supreme Court has held that absolute immunity protects prosecutors who knowingly used false testimony and suppressed evidence in a murder trial.
Absolute immunity provides legal protection to judges, prosecutors, legislators, and executive officials for actions committed in their official duties without malice or corrupt motives. Absolute immunity protects these individuals from both criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.
Civil immunity means immunity from civil liability for an injury or damage claimed.
Absolute immunity is the right to be free from the consequences of a suit's results, and from the burden of defending oneself altogether. Qualified immunity only shields an administrative officer from liability if the officer's activities are: within the scope of his/her office; are in objective good faith, and.
Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial actions. Though judges have immunity from lawsuit, in constitutional democracies judicial misconduct or bad personal behaviour is not completely protected.
Therefore, one might expect that all potential injurers are subject to tort liability. Yet many people and groups have some form of immunity from tort law, including presidents, members of Congress, judges, officials, firefighters, police officers, volunteers, and charitable organizations.
Yesterday's case–Viers v. Baker–dealt with “quasi-judicial immunity.” Quasi-judicial immunity is like the immunity enjoyed by judges but extends to any public official (1) performing a judicial function, (2) acting within their jurisdiction, and (3) acting in good faith.
government officialsQualified immunity only applies to suits against government officials as individuals, not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials' actions. Although qualified immunity frequently appears in cases involving police officers, it also applies to most other executive branch officials.
In the United States, sovereign immunity typically applies to the federal government and state government, but not to municipalities. Federal and state governments, however, have the ability to waive their sovereign immunity.
In a 5–4 decision, the Court ruled that the President is entitled to absolute immunity from legal liability for civil damages based on his official acts. The Court, however, emphasized that the President is not immune from criminal charges stemming from his official or unofficial acts while he is in office.