Stump v. Sparkman

Stump v. Sparkman
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 10, 1978 Decided March 28, 1978
Full case name	Harold D. Stump, et al. v. Linda Kay Sparkman and Leo Sparkman
Citations	435 U.S. 349 (more) 98 S. Ct. 1099; 55 L. Ed. 2d 331; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 74
Case history
Prior	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	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

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 who had been sterilized without her knowledge as a minor in accordance with the judge's order. The Supreme Court held that the judge was immune from being sued for issuing the order because it was issued as a judicial function. The case has been called one of the most controversial in recent Supreme Court history.^[1]