Office of Senator Mark Dayton v. Brad Hanson (550 U.S. 511)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 21, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 550 U.S. 511 · 127 S. Ct. 2018
- Decided
- May 21, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. Prior to January 3, 2007, Mark Dayton represented the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. Appellee, Brad Hanson, was employed in the Senator’s Ft. Snelling office prior to his discharge by the Senator, which he alleges occurred on July 3, 2002. Hanson brought this action for damages against appellant, the Senator’s office (Office), invoking the District Court’s jurisdiction under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (Act), 109 Stat. 3, as amended, 2 U. S. C. § 1301 et seq. (2000 ed. and Supp. IV), and alleging violations of three other federal statutes. The District Court denied appellant’s motion to dismiss the complaint based on a claim of immunity under the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution. The Court of Appeals affirmed, Fields v. Office of Eddie Bernice Johnson, Employing Office, United States Congress, 459 F. 3d 1 (CADC 2006), the Office invoked our appellate jurisdiction under § 412 of the Act, 2 U. S. C. § 1412, and we postponed consideration of jurisdiction pending hearing the case on the merits, 549 U. S. 1177 (2007). Because we do not have jurisdiction under §412, we dismiss the appeal. Treating appellant’s jurisdictional statement as a petition for a writ of certiorari, we deny the petition. Under § 412 of the Act, direct review in this Court is available “from any interlocutory or…
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