Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/508/429/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 11:52:49+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 508 › Antoine v. Byers & Anderson, Inc.
Held: A court reporter is not absolutely immune from damages liability for failing to produce a transcript of a federal criminal trial. Respondents bear the burden of establishing the justification for the absolute immunity they claim, which depends on the immunity historically accorded officials like them at common law and the interests behind it, Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478, 508. Since court reporters were not among the class of persons protected by judicial immunity in the 19th century, respondents suggest that common-law judges, who made handwritten notes during trials, be treated as their historical counterparts. However, the functions of the two types of notetakers are significantly different, since court reporters are charged by statute with producing a "verbatim" transcript for inclusion in the official record, while common-law judges exercise discretion and judgment in deciding exactly what and how much they will write. Moreover, were a commonlaw judge to perform a reporter's function, he or she might well be acting in an administrative capacity, for which there is no absolute immunity. Forrester v. White, 484 U. S. 219, 229. Because their job requires no discretionary judgment, court reporters are not entitled to immunity as part of the judicial function. See Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S. 409, 423, n. 20. pp. 432-438.
M. Margaret McKeown argued the cause for petitioner.
With her on the briefs was Alice D. Leiner.
JUSTICE STEVENS delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents the question whether a court reporter is absolutely immune from damages liability for failing to produce a transcript of a federal criminal trial.
* Denise Meyer, Michael J. Brennan, Dennis E. Curtis, Judith Resnik, and Charles D. Weisselberg filed a brief for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.
"Statement on the evidence or proceedings when no report was made or when the transcript is unavailable.-If no report of the evidence or proceedings at a hearing or trial was made, or if a transcript is unavailable, the appellant may prepare a statement of the evidence or proceedings from the best available means, including the appellant's recollection."
and the appellate process went forward. As a result of the delay in obtaining a transcript, petitioner's appeal was not heard until four years after his conviction. 950 F.2d 1471, 1472-1473 (CA9 1991); No. C88-260TB (WD Wash., Feb. 16, 1990), pp. 2-3, reprinted in App. 24.
nity is "justified and defined by the functions it protects and serves," Forrester v. White, 484 U. S. 219, 227 (1988) (emphasis omitted), and that "the tasks performed by a court reporter in furtherance of her statutory duties are functionally part and parcel of the judicial process," the Court of Appeals held that actions within the scope of a reporter's authority are absolutely immune. 950 F. 2d, at 1475-1476.
Some Circuits have held that court reporters are protected only by qualified immunity.3 We granted certiorari to resolve this conflict. 506 U. S. 914 (1992).
nity defense on which the Court of Appeals based its decision, see Pet. for Cert. i, we have no occasion to comment on the validity of petitioner's underlying cause of action.
3 See McLallen v. Henderson, 492 F.2d 1298, 1299-1300 (CA8 1974); Slavin v. Curry, 574 F.2d 1256, 1265-1266 (CA5 1978); Green v. Maraio, 722 F.2d 1013, 1018 (CA2 1983). The Seventh Circuit, like the Ninth, provides absolute immunity for court reporters. Scruggs v. Moellering, 870 F.2d 376, 377, cert. denied, 493 U. S. 956 (1989).
4 We have consistently "emphasized that the official seeking absolute immunity bears the burden of showing that such immunity is justified for the function in question. The presumption is that qualified rather than absolute immunity is sufficient to protect government officials in the exercise of their duties. We have been quite sparing in our recognition of absolute immunity, and have refused to extend it any further than its justification would warrant." Burns v. Reed, 500 U. S. 478, 486-487 (1991) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
5 For purposes of immunity, we have not distinguished actions brought under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 against state officials from Bivens actions brought against federal officials. See Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478, 503-504 (1978).
658 Stat. 5, as amended, 28 U. S. C. § 753.
"There is no law of the United States creating the position of official court stenographer and none requiring the stenographic report of any case, civil or criminal, and there is none providing for payment for the services of a stenographer in reporting judicial proceedings. The practice has been for the parties to agree that a designated person shall so report. The one selected must be paid by private arrangement with one or more of the parties to the litigation. The amount paid to him is not costs in the cause nor taxable as such against any of the parties." Miller v. United States, 317 U. S. 192, 197.
tion from a road tax is not in fact exempt, or that one arrested is in default for not having worked out the assessment; to members of a township board in deciding upon the allowance of claims; to arbitrators, and to the collector of customs in exercising his authority to sell perishable property, and in fixing upon the time for notice of sale.' Id., at 410-411 (footnotes omitted).
"As is evident from the foregoing catalog, judicial immunity extended not only to public officials but also to private citizens (in particular jurors and arbitrators); the touchstone for its applicability was performance of the function of resolving disputes between parties, or of authoritatively adjudicating private rights." Burns v. Reed, 500 U. S., at 499-500 (SCALIA, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part).
9 Indeed, the doctrine of judicial immunity was recognized in part to avoid imposing on judges the obligation to make complete trial transcripts.
There is a second problem with respondents' theory.
Even had common-law judges performed the functions of a court reporter, that would not end the immunity inquiry. It would still remain to consider whether judges, when performing that function, were themselves entitled to absolute immunity. We do not doubt that judicial notetaking as it is commonly practiced is protected by absolute immunity, because it involves the kind of discretionary decisionmaking that the doctrine of judicial immunity is designed to protect. But if we could imagine a hypothetical case in which a common-law judge felt himself bound to transcribe an entire proceeding verbatim, it is far less clear-and neither respondent refers us to any case law suggesting-that this administrative duty would be similarly protected. Indeed, we have recently held that judges are not entitled to absolute immunity when acting in their administrative capacity. Forrester v. White, 484 U. S. 219, 229 (1988).
decided as he did with judicial integrity .... " Bradley v. Fisher, 13 Wall. 335, 349 (1872).
10 "For it is a general principle of the highest importance to the proper administration of justice that a judicial officer, in exercising the authority vested in him, shall be free to act upon his own convictions, without apprehension of personal consequences to himself. Liability to answer to every one who might feel himself aggrieved by the action of the judge, would be inconsistent with the possession of this freedom, and would destroy that independence without which no judiciary can be either respectable or useful." Id., at 347. See also Mireles v. Waco, 502 U. S. 9, 10 (1991), and cases cited therein.
ing disputes between parties, or of authoritatively adjudicating private rights." 500 U. S., at 500 (SCALIA, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). When judicial immunity is extended to officials other than judges, it is because their judgments are "functional[ly] comparab[le]" to those of judges-that is, because they, too, "exercise a discretionary judgment" as a part of their function. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S., at 423, n. 20. Cf. Westfall v. Erwin, 484 U. S. 292, 297-298 (1988) (absolute immunity from statelaw tort actions available to executive officials only when their conduct is discretionary).
11 "A court stenographer, notwithstanding the fact that he is an officer of the court, by the very nature of his work performs no judicial function. His duties are purely ministerial and administrative; he has no power of decision. The doctrine [of judicial immunity] has no application to the facts with which we are confronted here." Waterman, 35 Misc. 2d, at 957, 232 N. Y. S. 2d, at 26.
Court of Appeals, "indispensable to the appellate process." 950 F. 2d, at 1476. As we explained in Forrester, some of the tasks performed by judges themselves, "even though they may be essential to the very functioning of the courts, have not ... been regarded as judicial acts." 484 U. S., at 228. In short, court reporters do not exercise the kind of judgment that is protected by the doctrine of judicial immunity.
Finally, respondents argue that strong policy reasons support extension of absolute immunity to court reporters. According to respondents, given the current volume of litigation in the federal courts, some reporters inevitably will be unable to meet deadlines. Absolute immunity would help to protect the entire judicial process from vexatious lawsuits brought by disappointed litigants when this happens. Requiring court reporters to defend against allegations like those asserted here, on the other hand, would not only be unfair, but would also aggravate the problem by contributing further to the caseload in the federal courts.

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