Opinion ID: 78503
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendants Amideo and Head

Text: Hart next argues that the district court erred in granting immunity to Defendant Amideo, the general counsel of the Georgia DOC, and Warden Head, who was in charge of the Georgia prison. Hart argues Defendant Amideo cannot be absolutely immune for (1) causing the issuance of the second state warrant, and (2) issuing the notice to surrender to Hart and threatening further prosecution. Hart argues Warden Head is not absolutely immune for ignoring the order of the Georgia Court of Appeals and not releasing Hart for approximately 19.5 hours after receiving notice of the order. Absolute immunity generally has not been extended to corrections officials. Procunier v. Navarette, 434 U.S. 555, 561-62, 98 S. Ct. 855, 859-60 (1978); Whitethorn v. Harrelson, 758 F.2d 1416, 1426 (11th Cir. 1985); Bruce, 537 F.2d at 852-53. In Procunier v. Navarette, the Supreme Court declined to extend absolute immunity in a § 1983 action to the director of a state corrections department, a prison warden and assistant warden, and three subordinate prison employees, holding instead that corrections officials are entitled to civil damage immunity, if at all, through qualified immunity. 434 U.S. at 561-62, 98 S. Ct. at 859-60. We applied Procunier in Whitethorn v. Harrelson, when we stated the defendants  employees of the Alabama Department of Corrections  were not entitled to absolute immunity for denying the plaintiff the opportunity to participate in a work release program. 758 F.2d at 1426; see also Bruce, 537 F.2d at 852-53 (not applying absolute immunity to custodial officials accused of abusing plaintiff while he was incarcerated). Defendants Amideo's and Head's actions related to the same subject matter as some of Hodges's conduct  that is, the issuance of the second state warrant, the issuance of the notice to surrender, and disobeying the order of the Georgia Court of Appeals. However, Defendants Amideo's and Head's roles in those matters are materially different from Hodges's role. As a prosecutor, Hodges was directly participating as an advocate for how Hart's sentence should be interpreted. In contrast, Amideo's and Head's roles involved the Georgia DOC's executive function of taking custody of a prisoner. Unlike Hodges, Amideo and Head did not participate in the judicial process, much less have an advocate role in that process. Rather, Defendant Amideo's role as legal advisor to the Georgia DOC, which manages the Georgia prison system, and Warden Head's role as chief jailer of the Georgia prison where Hart was incarcerated, are not roles intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process. We therefore agree with Hart that the district court erred in granting absolute immunity to Defendants Amideo and Head for actions taken in their roles as state corrections officials and vacate the district court's order as to Amideo and Head.