Stump v. Sparkman
Case Date: 07/04/1978
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Civ.No. F-75-129 (N.D. Ind. May 13, 1976) 552 F.2d 172 (7th Cir. 1977)
Certiorari granted October 3, 1977, 434 U.S. 815, 98 S.Ct. 51, 54 L.Ed.2d 70
Subsequent history
Rehearing Denied June 5, 1978, 436 U.S. 951, 98 S.Ct. 2862, 56 L.Ed.2d 795
Remand 601 F.2nd 261 (7th Cir. 1979)
Holding
A judge will not be deprived of immunity because the action he took was in error, was done maliciously, or was in excess of his authority. He will be subject to liability only when he has acted in the clear absence of all jurisdiction.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority
White, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Rehnquist, Stevens
Dissent
Stewart, joined by Marshall, Powell
Dissent
Powell
Brennan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
42 U.S.C. § 1983
DeKalb County Court House, Auburn, Indiana. The chambers of the Circuit Court judge are at upper left.
Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978), is the leading United States Supreme Court decision on judicial immunity. It involved an Indiana judge who was sued by a young woman whom he had ordered to be sterilized.
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