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Page Number: 7

4 

THOMPSON v. CLARK 

Opinion of the Court 

affirmed the dismissal of Thompson’s Fourth Amendment 
claim.  794 Fed. Appx. 140 (2020). 

The Courts of Appeals have split over how to apply the
favorable  termination  requirement  of  the  Fourth  Amend-
ment claim under §1983 for malicious prosecution.  In ad-
dition to the Second Circuit, some other Courts of Appeals 
have  held  that  a  favorable  termination  requires  some  af-
firmative  indication  of  innocence.  See,  e.g.,  Kossler  v. 
Crisanti, 564 F. 3d 181, 187 (CA3 2009) (en banc); Cordova 
v. Albuquerque, 816 F. 3d 645, 649 (CA10 2016).  By con-
trast, the Eleventh Circuit has held that a favorable termi-
nation occurs so long as the criminal prosecution ends with-
out a conviction.  See Laskar v. Hurd, 972 F. 3d 1278, 1282 
(2020).  This Court granted certiorari to resolve the split. 
592 U. S. ___ (2021). 

II 
A 

In 1871, Congress passed and President Grant signed the 
Civil Rights Act of 1871.  Section 1 of that Act, now codified 
at 42 U. S. C. §1983, created a species of federal tort liabil-
ity for individuals to sue state and local officers for depriva-
tions of constitutional rights.

In this case, Thompson sued several police officers under
§1983, alleging that he was “maliciously prosecuted” with-
out probable cause and that he was seized as a result.  App.
33–34.  He  brought  a  Fourth  Amendment  claim  under 
§1983 for malicious prosecution, sometimes referred to as a 
claim  for  unreasonable  seizure  pursuant  to  legal  process. 
This Court’s precedents recognize such a claim.  See Manuel 
v. Joliet, 580 U. S. 357, 363–364, 367–368 (2017); Albright 
v. Oliver, 510 U. S. 266, 271 (1994) (plurality opinion); see 
also  id.,  at  290–291  (Souter,  J.,  concurring  in  judgment).
And following this Court’s precedents, the District Courts
and Courts of Appeals have decided numerous cases involv-
ing  Fourth  Amendment  claims  under  §1983  for  malicious