Pierson v. Ray
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''Pierson v. Ray'', 386 U.S. 547 (1967), was a
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case in which the Court first introduced the justification for
qualified immunity In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from civil suits unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "clearly established statu ...
for police officers from being sued for civil rights violations under
Section 1983 The Enforcement Act of 1871 (), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, Third Ku Klux Klan Act, Civil Rights Act of 1871, or Force Act of 1871, is an Act of the United States Congress which empowered the President to suspend ...
, by arguing that " policeman's lot is not so unhappy that he must choose between being charged with dereliction of duty if he does not arrest when he had probable cause, and being mulcted in damages if he does."


Background

The case refers to the incident in
Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...
where 15 Episcopal priests were arrested after entering the coffee shop at the local Trailways bus terminal. The group were part of 28 priests from Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity, taking part in the Mississippi Freedom Rides, traveling from the Deep South to the Great Lakes. Meeting on the evening of September 11, 1961 in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, they left the following day on a chartered bus which would take them via McComb into Tougaloo, a small town outside Jackson. They would then split into three groups traveling north via
Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892 * Sewanee Natural Bridge * Saint Andrews-Sewanee School See also * Suwanee (disambiguati ...
into
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.


Incident

On September 13, 1961, a group of 15 including three black priests took taxis from Tougaloo into the nearby Jackson
Trailways The Trailways Transportation System is an American network of approximately 70 independent bus companies that have entered into a brand licensing agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Trailwa ...
bus terminal to catch the bus to Chattanooga. When entering the coffee shop to have lunch before their departure, they were stopped by two policemen, Officers David Allison Nichols and Joseph David Griffith, who asked them to leave. After the priests refused to leave, Captain J. L. Ray arrested and jailed all 15 priests for breach of peace, using a now-repealed section of the
Mississippi code Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...
§ 2087.5 that "makes guilty of a misdemeanor anyone who congregates with others in a public place under circumstances such that a breach of the peace may be occasioned thereby, and refuses to move on when ordered to do so by a police officer." The group included 35-year-old Reverend Robert L. Pierson, who was son-in-law to the Republican Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller. They were brought to trial before the local judge James Spencer who found them guilty of breach of peace and sentenced them to four months in jail and $200 fine. After raising money for bail, they appealed the case de novo in the Hinds County Court. The case against the priests was dismissed by Judge Russell Moore showing no violation of law (
directed verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales, ...
) on May 21, 1962.


Civil claim for damages under Section 1983

Represented by Carl Rachlin, the chief legal counsel at
Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...
, they sought damages in the Jackson district court before Judge Sidney Mize, alleging the police and the local judge had violated Title 42, Section 1983 of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by false arrest and imprisonment for exercising their civil rights. However, the jury found in favor of the police who said they were trying to prevent imminent violence from a gathered crowd, contradicting the evidence of the priests. On appeal, the
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...
found that the local judge was immune from liability for his decision. Although the appeal court found the Mississippi code unconstitutional, it found that "Mississippi law does not require police officers to predict at their peril which state laws are constitutional and which are not."


Supreme Court

Rachlin
appealed In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
to the Supreme Court on behalf of four of the priests: Robert L. Pierson, John B. Morris, James P. Breeden and James G. Jones Jr – Breeden was the only black petitioner. The defendants were Police Chief (then Captain) J. L. Ray, his two officers Griffiths and Nichols, and municipal police justice, Judge James Spencer. Captain Ray and Judge Spencer had already arrested and sentenced more than 300 Freedom Riders for "breach of peace" before this incident. They were represented by Elizabeth Watkins Hulen Grayson. Rachlin had made the argument on the basis of the
Civil Rights Act of 1871 The Enforcement Act of 1871 (), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, Third Ku Klux Klan Act, Civil Rights Act of 1871, or Force Act of 1871, is an Act of the United States Congress which empowered the President to suspend ...
's section 1979, which was codified into the US Civil Code Title 42 Chapter 21 Section 1983. The original 1871 Act stated that


Ruling

Eight of the nine justices agreed with the Fifth Circuit that Judge Spencer had
absolute immunity In United States law, absolute immunity is a type of sovereign immunity for government officials that confers complete immunity from criminal prosecution and suits for damages, so long as officials are acting within the scope of their duties. The Su ...
from liability for damages, and that Section 1983 would not apply in a judge's case, stating that "the immunity of judges for acts within the judicial role is equally well established, and we presume that Congress would have specifically so provided had it wished to abolish the doctrine." This principle of immunity of judges from liability for damages was established in common law as found in the case ''Bradley v. Fisher'' (1872). They went on to state that although police officers are not granted absolute and unqualified immunity from liability for damages, they may be excused "from liability for acting under a statute that he reasonably believed to be valid but that was later held unconstitutional, on its face or as applied", similar to the principle that a police officer "... who arrests someone with probable cause is not liable for false arrest simply because the innocence of the suspect is later proved." However, the justices found that the jury trial was influenced by irrelevant and prejudicial evidence, which included trying to get the priests to agree that their views on racial justice and equality aligned with the Communist movement. They also disagreed with the appeal court that the priests had consented to their arrest merely by gathering in the terminal under the principle of ''
volenti non fit injuria ''Volenti non fit iniuria'' (or ''injuria'') (Latin: "to a willing person, injury is not done") is a common law doctrine which states that if someone willingly places themselves in a position where harm might result, knowing that some degree of h ...
''. Therefore, a new trial could be remanded to claim damages against the police. Only Justice Douglas dissented, stating that Section 1983 must include the judiciary who too must be liable for civil rights violations in the course of their duties. He pointed to the debate in Congress during the Act's inception where "members of Congress objected to the statute because it imposed liability on members of the judiciary." Accordingly, as the Act was passed without providing any exception for the judiciary, he concluded that Congress intended for Section 1983 to apply to 'any person', including judges.


Legacy


US Civil Code

Following this interpretation, Section 1983 of the Civil Code was amended twice, once in 1979 to include
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
within its remits. The later 1996 amendment was part of a series of amendments to the US Code included in the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1996. Although the submitted Bill by Sen
Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...
(R-IA) sought to streamline the judiciary and make it more efficient, it was amended by the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
led by Sen
Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senato ...
to include provisions to protect judicial officers from liability. The committee gave the following justification for codifying immunity for the judiciary in this amendment.


Current version

The current version reads (amendments from original are shown with ):


Congress 2020

Following a number of civilian deaths during encounters with US police, there was a heightened awareness of the case and the concept of qualified immunity, coming to a head with the
murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...
in May 2020. Numerous other similar cases where the government had settled cases and law enforcement officers were able to claim qualified immunity came to light, placing public pressure on Congress to rectify the situation. In the Senate,
Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...
(D-NJ) introduced a
resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...
which asserts that the broad overreach and injustice of the concept of qualified immunity stemming from successive Supreme Court decisions is based "on a mistaken judicial interpretation of a statute enacted by Congress". In the House of Representatives,
Justin Amash Justin Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. Originally a Republican, Amash joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020, becoming the party's first (an ...
(L-MI) introduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act which criticized the interpretation of Section 1983 by the Supreme Court in ''Pierson v. Ray'' and subsequent rulings, claiming that the interpretation is erroneous. It adds the following text to Section 1983. Rep Karen Bass (D-CA) introduced a separate bill that has passed the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
236-181. It was not passed in the Senate as it did not have any support from the Republican majority in the upper house. It was again passed in the House on March 3, 2021 but faces uncertain prospects in the Senate as the Democratic majority lacks the votes to overcome a filibuster. In this bill, Section 1983 would be amended by adding the following text:


See also

*'' Monroe v. Pape'' *''
Hope v. Pelzer ''Hope v. Pelzer'', 536 U.S. 730 (2002), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the defense of qualified immunity, under which government actors may not be sued for actions they take in connection with their offices, ...
'' *'' Johnson v. Jones'' *'' Scott v. Harris'' *''
Plumhoff v. Rickard ''Plumhoff v. Rickard'', 572 U.S. 765 (2014), is a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case involving the use of force by police officers during high-speed car chases. After first holding that it had jurisdiction to h ...
'' *'' United States v. Lanier'' * George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 * Ending Qualified Immunity Act


References


External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Pierson v. Ray'', {{ussc, 386, 547, 1967, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/107411/pierson-v-ray/ , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/386/547/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep386/usrep386547/usrep386547.pdf , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1966/79 1967 in United States case law Bus transportation in Mississippi Civil rights movement case law Episcopal Church (United States) Jackson, Mississippi Trailways Transportation System United States racial desegregation case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court