Lynne Kalina v. Rodney Fletcher (522 U.S. 118)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 10, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 522 U.S. 118 · 118 S. Ct. 502
- Decided
- December 10, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1997
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented is whether 42 U. S. C. § 1988 creates a damages remedy against a prosecutor for making false statements of faet in an affidavit supporting an application for an arrest warrant, or whether, as she contends, such conduct is protected by “the doctrine of absolute prosecutorial immunity.” I Petitioner is a deputy prosecuting attorney for King County, Washington. Following customary practice, on December 14, 1992, she commenced a criminal proceeding against respondent by filing three documents in the King County Superior Court. Two of those documents — an information charging respondent with burglary and a motion for an arrest warrant — were unsworn pleadings. The burglary charge was based on an alleged theft of computer equipment from a school. Washington Criminal Rules require that an arrest warrant be supported by an affidavit or “sworn testimony establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant.” To satisfy that requirement, petitioner supported her motion with a third document — a “Certification for Determination of Probable Cause” — that summarized the evidence supporting the charge. She personally vouched for the truth of the facts set forth in the certification under penalty of perjury. Based on petitioner’s certification, the trial court found probable cause and ordered that an arrest warrant be…
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