Court Opinion

ID: 9429109
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:25:40.700266+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:17.148709
License: Public Domain

Justice Marshall,
with whom Justice Blackmun joins, except as to Part I, dissenting.
I cannot agree that police officers are absolutely immune from civil liability under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 (1976 ed., Supp. V) for testimony given in criminal proceedings. The extension of absolute immunity conflicts fundamentally with the language and purpose of the statute. I would therefore be reluctant in any case to conclude that §1983 incorporates common-law tort immunities that may have existed when Congress enacted the statute in 1871. But in this case the conclusion is especially unjustified. First, absolute immunity for witnesses was by no means a settled legal proposition in 1871. Most notably, in 1845 this Court had cast serious doubt on the existence of absolute immunity for testimony given in judicial proceedings. Second, the origins and history of § 1983 strongly suggest that Congress meant to abrogate any absolute immunity for government officials involved *347in the judicial process, including police officers. Finally, considerations of public policy deemed necessary to justify absolute immunity in our past cases do not support an absolute immunity for officer-witnesses.
The majority opinion correctly states that this case presents a question of statutory construction. Ante, at 326. Yet it departs from generally accepted principles for interpreting laws.
In all other matters of statutory construction, this Court begins by focusing on the language of the statute itself.1 “Absent a clearly expressed legislative intention to the contrary, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive.” Consumer Product Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U. S. 102, 108 (1980). The language of § 1983 provides unambiguous guidance in this case. A witness is most assuredly a “person,” the word Congress employed to describe those whose conduct § 1983 encompasses.2 The ma*348jority turns the conventional approach to statutory interpretation on its head. It assumes that common-law tort immunities provide an exemption from the plain language of the statute unless petitioners demonstrate that Congress meant to override the immunity. See ante, at 336. Thus, in the absence of a clearly expressed legislative intent to the contrary, the Court simply presumes that Congress did not mean what it said.
Absolute immunity for witnesses conflicts not only with the language of § 1983 but also with its purpose. In enacting § 1983, Congress sought to create a damages action for victims of violations of federal rights; absolute immunity nullifies “pro tanto the very remedy it appears Congress sought to create.” Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S. 409, 434 (1976) (White, J., concurring in judgment). The words of a statute should always be interpreted to carry out its purpose.3 Moreover, Members of the 42d Congress explicitly stated that § 1983 should be read so as to further its broad remedial goals. As the sponsor of the 1871 Act, Representative Shellabarger, declared:
“This act is remedial, and in aid of the preservation of human liberty and human rights. All statutes and constitutional provisions authorizing such statutes are liberally and beneficently construed. It would be most strange and, in civilized law, monstrous were this not the rule of interpretation. As has been again and again decided by your own Supreme Court of the United States, and everywhere else where there is wise judicial *349interpretation, the largest latitude consistent with the words employed is uniformly given in construing such statutes and constitutional provisions as are meant to protect and defend and give remedies for their wrongs to all the people.” Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., App. 68 (1871).4
It might be appropriate to import common-law defenses and immunities into the statute if, in enacting § 1983, Congress had merely sought to federalize state tort law. But Congress “intended to give a broad remedy for violations of federally protected civil rights.” Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S. 658, 685 (1978) (emphasis added). Different considerations surely apply when a suit is based on a federally guaranteed right — in this case, the constitutional right to due process of law — rather than the common law.5 The Congress that enacted § 1983 had concluded that “a deprivation of a constitutional right is significantly different from and more serious than a violation of a state right and therefore deserves a different remedy even though *350the same act may constitute both a state tort and the deprivation of a constitutional right.” Monroe v. Pape, 365 U. S. 167, 196 (1961) (Harlan, J., concurring). Therefore, immunities that arose in the context of tort actions against private parties provide little guidance for actions against state officials for constitutional violations. “It would indeed be the purest coincidence if the state remedies for violations of common-law rights by private citizens were fully appropriate to redress those injuries which only a state official can cause and against which the Constitution provides protection.” Id., at 196, n. 5.
Given the language and purpose of § 1983, I have serious doubts about any further extension of absolute immunity to state officials in actions under § 1983. At a minimum, I do not believe the Court should extend absolute immunity to state officials “in the absence of the most convincing showing that the immunity is necessary.” Imbler v. Pachtman, supra, at 434 (White, J., concurring in judgment). For the reasons elaborated below, I believe that the case for absolute witness immunity is far from convincing.
HH hH
The majority’s decision is predicated on its conclusion that “[i]n 1871, common-law immunity for witnesses was well settled.” Ante, at 345. I disagree with this view of the law as it stood when Congress enacted § 1983.
To begin with, some of petitioners’ allegations would clearly not have been barred by doctrines of immunity at common law. The majority discusses only the immunities associated with actions for defamation at common law. Ante, at 330-331, n. 9. However, petitioner Briscoe did not allege solely that Officer LaHue had testified falsely at his trial, a claim resembling one for defamation. He also alleged that Officer LaHue had made knowingly false charges at two probable-cause hearings, one of which resulted in Briscoe’s arrest.6 At common law, such an allegation would have *351formed the basis of an action on the case for malicious prosecution,7 or the related action known by its Latin name, crimen feloniae imposuit (imputing the crime of felony).8 Both English and American courts routinely permitted plaintiffs to bring actions alleging that the defendant had made a false and malicious accusation of a felony to a magistrate or other judicial officer.9 No immunity barred these suits. Indeed, an absolute immunity would have been illogical, for it would have allowed a defendant to avoid the related common-law action for false imprisonment by the simple expedient of proffering false charges before a magistrate and thereby securing an arrest warrant.10
*352Even with respect to the common-law action for defamation which the majority discusses, I cannot agree that an absolute immunity for witnesses was well-settled law in 1871. In 1845, this Court had rejected both the rule of absolute im*353munity and its logical underpinnings, proposing instead that a plaintiff allege and prove malice in the case of privileged communications.
In White v. Nicholls, 3 How. 266 (1845), Justice Daniel wrote for a unanimous Court in dicta a veritable treatise on the law of defamation and privileged communications.11 The Court began by noting the existence of various exceptions “which, in the elementary treatises, and in the decisions upon libel and slander, have been denominated privileged communications or publications.” Id., at 286. One of these “exceptions” was for “[w]ords used in the course of a legal or judicial proceeding, however hard they may bear upon the party of whom they are used.” Id., at 287. The Court then stated:
“But the term ‘exceptions,’ as applied to cases like those just enumerated, could never be interpreted to mean that there is a class of actors or transactions placed above the cognisance of the law, absolved from the commands of justice. It is difficult to conceive how, in society where rights and duties are relative and mutual, there can be tolerated those who are privileged to do injury legibus soluti; and still more difficult to imagine, how such a privilege could be instituted or tolerated upon the principles of social good. The privilege spoken of in the books should, in our opinion, be taken with strong and well-defined qualifications. It properly signifies this, and nothing more. That the excepted instances shall so far change the ordinary rule with respect to slanderous or libellous matter, as to remove the regular and usual presumption of malice, and to make it incumbent on the party complaining to show malice, either by the construction of the spoken or written matter, or by the facts and circumstances connected with that matter, or with the situation of the parties, adequate to authorize the conclusion.” Ibid, (emphasis added).
*354The Court invoked these principles in discussing the specific exception for words used in a judicial proceeding, relying on the views of one English judge who had rejected absolute immunity.12
“With respect to words used in a course of judicial proceeding, it has been ruled that they are protected by the occasion, and cannot form the foundation of an action of slander without proof of express malice; ... in the case of Hodgson v. Scarlett, 1 Barn. & Aid. 247, it is said by Holroyd, J., speaking of the words of counsel in the argument of a cause, Tf they be fair comments upon the evidence, and relevant to the matter in issue, then unless malice be shown, the occasion justifies them. If, however, it be proved that they were not spoken bona fide, or express malice be shown, then they may be actionable.’” Id., at 288 (emphasis added).13
If Congress in 1871 actually examined the subject of common-law witness immunity, it could hardly have overlooked White v. Nicholls since that case was the sole pronouncement on the subject from the highest Court in the land. Congress might well have concluded — as did the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1871 — that the principles enunciated in White were “settled law.” Saunders v. Baxter, 53 Tenn. 369, 383. In an age when federal common law prevailed, see Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. 1 (1842), a Supreme Court decision would have been the natural focus for a Congress establishing a federal remedy which was accompanied by a new grant of federal jurisdiction.14 In short, the most salient feature in the *355landscape of the common law at the time Congress acted was an opinion rebuffing absolute immunity in favor of a qualified immunity based on the absence of malice.15
*356The majority’s decision is also predicated on its conclusion that there is “no evidence that Congress intended to abrogate the traditional common-law witness immunity in § 1983 actions.” Ante, at 337. In fact, there is considerable evidence in the legislative history that Congress did intend to abrogate the immunity of participants in state judicial proceedings.
A
At petitioners’ urging,16 the Court has extensively examined the legislative history of § 2 of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, 17 Stat. 13, now codified as 42 U. S. C. § 1985(3) (1976 ed., Supp. V). However, the forerunner of § 1983 was § 1 of the 1871 Act, not §2. As the majority points out, ante, at 337, 340-341, the two sections differ significantly in their language and purpose. It is thus hardly surprising that the debates over § 2 shed little light on § 1. In my view the inquiry should focus on the history of § 1. Only by examining the *357genesis of that provision can it be determined whether Congress intended to abrogate certain common-law immunities.
The origin of § 1 is not open to serious question. The language and concept of the provision were derived in large part from §2 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 14 Stat. 27.17 The author of § 1 clearly stated the relationship between the two Acts in introducing the 1871 measure:
“My first inquiry is as to the warrant which we have for enacting such a section as this [§ 1 of the 1871 Act]. The model for it will be found in the second section of the act of April 9,1866, known as the ‘civil rights act.’ That section provides a criminal proceeding in identically the same case as this one provides a civil remedy for, except that the deprivation under color of State law must, under the civil rights act, have been on account of race, color, or former slavery. This section of the bill, on the same state of facts, not only provides a civil remedy for *358persons whose former condition may have been that of slaves, but also to all people where, under color of State law, they or any of them may be deprived of rights to which they are entitled under the Constitution by reason and virtue of their national citizenship.” Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., App. 68 (1871) (emphasis added).
Because the two provisions are so intimately connected, a full examination of the history of § 1 of the 1871 Act must begin with § 2 of the 1866 Act.
B
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first federal statute to provide broad protection in the field of civil rights. Its primary purpose was to guarantee the newly emancipated Negro equality with whites before the law. Section 2 of the Act provided criminal liability for any person who, acting under color of law, deprived another of his rights because of race. This provision was extensively debated. Controversy centered in large part over its intended application to state officials integral to the judicial process.
The liability of state judicial officials and all official participants in state judicial proceedings under §2 was explicitly and repeatedly affirmed.18 The notion of immunity for such officials was thoroughly discredited. The Senate sponsor of *359the Act deemed the idea “akin to the maxim of the English law that the King can do no wrong. It places officials above the law. It is the very doctrine out of which the rebellion [the Civil War] was hatched.” Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 1758 (1866) (Sen. Trumbull). Thus, §2 was “aimed directly at the State judiciary.” Id., at 1155 (Rep. Eldridge). See also id., at 1778 (Sen. Johnson, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee) (§ 2 of the 1866 Act “strikes at the judicial department of the governments of the States”).
Two unsuccessful efforts were made to amend § 2. First, Representative Miller introduced an amendment to exempt state judges from criminal liability. Id., at 1156. Second, and of particular significance, Representative Bingham introduced an amendment to substitute a civil action for the criminal sanctions contained in the proposal. Id., at 1266, 1271-1272. The sponsor of the 1866 Act, Representative Wilson, opposed the amendment largely on the ground that it would place the financial burden of protecting civil rights on poor individuals instead of on the government. Id., at 1295. At the same time he stressed that there was “no difference in the principle involved” between a civil remedy and a criminal sanction. Ibid.
After the 1866 bill passed the Senate and House, President Andrew Johnson vetoed it. His opposition was based in part on the fact that § 2 of the bill “invades the judicial power of the State.” Veto Message, in id., at 1680. The President warned that “judges of the State courts . . . [and] marshals and sheriffs, who should, as ministerial officers, execute processes, sanctioned by State laws and issued by State judges, in execution of their judgments, could be brought before other tribunals and there subjected to fine and imprisonment for the performance of the duties which such state laws might impose.” Ibid. Within two weeks, both the Senate and the House overrode the veto. Various Congressmen responded to the President’s criticisms and freely admitted that § 2 of the legislation was aimed at state judicial systems. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative *360Lawrence, declared: “I answer it is better to invade the judicial power of the State than permit it to invade, strike down, and destroy the civil rights of citizens. A judicial power perverted to such uses should be speedily invaded. The grievance would be insignificant.” Id., at 1837. See also id., at 1758 (response of Sen. Trumbull to President’s veto message); id., at 1838 (statement of Rep. Clarke). The bill became law on April 9, 1866.
C
This Court has from time to time read § 1983 against the “background” of common-law tort liability.19 Far more pertinent to this case, however, is the background provided by the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Representative Bingham, who had introduced the amendment to substitute civil liability for criminal liability in the 1866 Act, had become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee by the time of the 42d Congress. Senator Trumbull, the Senate sponsor of the 1866 Act, was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1871. Representative Shellabarger, who had participated in the debates on the 1866 legislation,20 drafted the 1871 Act.
Congress was well aware that the “model” for § 1 of the 1871 law could be found in the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., App. 68 (1871) (Rep. Shella-barger). The manager of the bill in the Senate, George Ed-munds, stressed that § 1 was merely “carrying out the principles of the civil rights bill” that had been passed in 1866. Id., at 568. Representative Coburn stated that § 1 “gives a civil remedy parallel to the penal provision” in the Civil Rights Act. “If this penal section is valid, and no one dares controvert it, the civil remedy is legal and unquestionable.” Id., at 461. See also id., at 429 (Rep. McHenry in opposi*361tion) (“The first section of the bill is intended as an amendment of the civil rights act”); id., at 365 (Rep. Arthur in opposition) (§ 1 is “cumulative, as far as it goes, with certain provisions in the civil rights bill”).
The fact that § 2 of the Civil Rights Act was the model for § 1 of the 1871 Act explains why the debates in the 42d Congress on § 1 were so perfunctory.21 Of all the measures in the Ku Klux Klan Act, § 1 generated the least controversy since it merely provided a civil counterpart to the far more controversial criminal provision in the 1866 Act. See id., at 568 (Sen. Edmunds) (“The first section is one that I believe nobody objects to”); id., at App. 313 (Rep. Burchard) (“To the first section, giving an injured party redress by suit at law in the United States courts in the cases enumerated, I can see no objections”); Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S., at 665 (debate on § 1 was limited and the section passed without amendment); Developments in the Law — Section 1983 and Federalism, 90 Harv. L. Rev. 1133, 1155 (1977).
Opponents of § 1 of the 1871 Act repeated the same arguments that had been made against § 2 of the 1866 Act. They warned of the liability for judicial officers that would result from enactment of § 1.22 Indeed, in portraying the inevitable consequences of the 1871 Act, Senator Thurman pointed to criminal prosecutions of state judicial officers that had already taken place under the 1866 Act.23 These statements can hardly be dismissed as exaggerated rhetoric from opponents of the 1871 Act. Instead, they simply reflect the fact that the battle over liability for those integral to the judicial process had already been fought in 1866 when Congress *362adopted the far more serious criminal sanction aimed at state judicial systems. Section 1, in contrast, provided for “the mild remedy of a civil action.” Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 482 (1871) (Rep. Wilson, member of the House Judiciary Committee). So it was not surprising that the arguments of the opponents to the 1871 Act would fall on deaf ears. It is also noteworthy that Representative Shella-barger, who was hardly reluctant to interrupt speakers who were misconstruing his proposal,24 never disputed the opponents’ characterizations with regard to the liability of state judicial officers.25
To assume that Congress, which had enacted a criminal sanction directed against state judicial officials,26 intended sub silentio to exempt those same officials from the civil counterpart approaches the incredible.27 Sheriffs and marshals, while performing a quintessential^ judicial function such as serving process, were clearly liable under the 1866 Act, notwithstanding President Johnson’s objections. Be*363cause, as Representative Shellabarger stated, § 1 of the 1871 Act provided a civil remedy “in identically the same case” or “on the same state of facts” as § 2 of the 1866 Act, it obviously overrode whatever immunity may have existed at common law for these participants in the judicial process in 1871.
D
The lack of historical support for witness immunity sharply contrasts with the substantial historical support for legislative immunity which this Court recognized in Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U. S. 367 (1951), a case on which the majority relies. Ante, at 330, 334. Legislative immunity enjoyed a unique historical position since it had been conceived in the Parliamentary struggles of the 17th century and enshrined in the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution. The vast majority of States had adopted constitutional provisions providing a parallel protection against civil and criminal liability. See 341 U. S., at 372-375.
Moreover, the history of § 1 supports incorporation of legislative immunity. For example, when the specter of holding state legislators liable under § 2 of the 1866 Act was raised by President Johnson’s veto message,28 the Senate sponsor of the Act was quick to disavow any such intention. Senator Trumbull argued at some length that legislators did not fall within the scope of the Act because they “enact” laws rather than act “under color of” state law.29 Whatever the validity of this distinction, it no doubt reflected the reluctance of Congress to impinge on the immunity of state legislators. But while the Radical Republican Congress was a “staunch advocate of legislative freedom,” 341 U. S., at 376, it displayed no solicitude for state courts.30 The debates over the 1871 Act are replete with hostile comments directed at state judicial *364systems.31 It is entirely reasonable to conclude that Congress intended to make state legislators immune from civil liability under § 1 of the 1871 Act. No similar evidence exists to support an immunity for police officers testifying as witnesses.32
IV
The majority also bases its decision on considerations of public policy, which purportedly mandate absolute immunity for police officers sued under § 1983 for their testimony as witnesses. Ante, at 341-345. This Court has recognized absolute immunity only in “exceptional situations” where public policy makes it “essential.” Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478, 507 (1978).33 In my view, the case for official-witness immunity falls far short of this standard.
*365Police officers and other government officials differ significantly from private citizens, around whom common-law doctrines of witness immunity developed. A police officer comes to the witness stand clothed with the authority of the State. His official status gives him credibility and creates a far greater potential for harm than exists when the average citizen testifies.34 The situation is aggravated when the official draws on special expertise. A policeman testifying about a fingerprint identification or a medical examiner testifying as to the cause of a death can have a critical impact on a defendant’s trial.35 At the same time, the threat of a criminal perjury prosecution, which serves as an important constraint on the average witness’ testimony, is virtually nonexistent in the police-witness context. Despite the apparent prevalence of police perjury,36 prosecutors exhibit extreme *366reluctance in charging police officials with criminal conduct because of their need to maintain close working relationships with law enforcement agencies.37 The majority thus forecloses a civil sanction in precisely those situations where the need is most pressing.
Moreover, the danger that official witnesses would be inhibited in testifying by the fear of a damages action is much more remote than would be the case with private witnesses. Policemen normally have a duty to testify about matters involving their official conduct. The notion that officials with a professional interest in securing criminal convictions would shade their testimony in favor of a defendant to avoid the risk of a civil suit can only be viewed with skepticism. In addition, police officials are usually insulated from any economic hardship associated with lawsuits based on conduct within the scope of their authority.38 In any event, if the Court truly desires to give police officers “ ‘every encouragement to make a full disclosure of all pertinent information within their knowledge,’” ante, at 335 (quoting Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S., at 439 (White, J., concurring in judgment)), then at the very least it should permit § 1983 suits which allege that officials withheld key information while testifying.39
*367The majority’s primary concern appears to be that §1983 suits against police witnesses would impose “significant burdens on the judicial system and on law enforcement resources.” Ante, at 343. As an empirical matter, this contention is unfounded. Both the Sixth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit have permitted such suits for over five years, see ante, at 328-329, n. 4, but there is no perceptible drain on legal resources in those Circuits compared to other Circuits that bar such lawsuits. Moreover, a comprehensive study of § 1983 suits filed in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, indicates that only about 30 actions for false arrest were filed annually in that District.40 Police officers arrest much more frequently than they testify, and an arrest will undoubtedly make many individuals disgruntled. Yet, lawsuits based on such allegations constituted only 0.5% of all cases filed in the Central District,41 or an average of only one for every 243 full-time police *368officers in the city of Los Angeles.42 This does not appear to be a “significant burden.”43 The simple fact is that practical obstacles alone are enough to deter most individuals from suing the police for official misconduct.44
In considering the competing interests at stake in this area, the majority strikes a very one-sided balance. It eschews any qualified immunity in favor of an absolute one. Thus, the mere inquiry into good faith is deemed so undesirable that we must simply acquiesce in the possibility that government officials will maliciously deprive citizens of their rights.45 For my part, I cannot conceive in this case how patent violations of individual rights can be tolerated in the name of the public good. “The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protections of the laws, whenever he receives an injury.” Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 163 (1803).
*369V
For all of the above reasons, I believe that the majority has failed to sustain the heavy burden required to justify an immunity so plainly at odds with the language and purpose of § 1983. I therefore respectfully dissent.

 E. g., Jackson Transit Authority v. Transit Union, 457 U. S. 15, 23 (1982); Bread Political Action Comm. v. FEC, 455 U. S. 577, 580 (1982); Universities Research Assn. v. Coutu, 450 U. S. 754, 771 (1981); Dawson Chemical Co. v. Rohm & Haas Co., 448 U. S. 176, 187 (1980).

 The majority criticizes a literal reading of the statute and refers to National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States, 435 U. S. 679 (1978). Ante, at 330, and n. 8. In National Society, the Court noted that the language of § 1 of the Sherman Act “cannot mean what it says.” 435 U. S., at 687. But there is no logical reason why the word “person” in § 1983 should be read to exclude a witness. Moreover, on a number of occasions, this Court has relied on the plain language of § 1983. See, e. g., Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U. S. 1, 4 (1980) (“The question before us is whether the phrase ‘and laws’ as used in § 1983 means what it says, or whether it should be limited to some subset of laws. Given that Congress attached no modifiers to the phrase, the plain language of the statute undoubtedly embraces respondents’ claim . . .”); Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U. S. 527, 534 (1981) (relying in part on text of § 1983 to reject limitation of statute to intentional deprivations); Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U. S. 622, 635 (1980) (relying on the “absolute and unqualified” language of § 1983 to reject a qualified immunity for municipalities); Monell v. New York City *348Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S. 658, 688-689 (1978) (relying on “plain meaning” of § 1983). Cf. Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., 392 U. S. 409, 420 (1968) (relying on the “plain and unambiguous terms” of 42 U. S. C. § 1982).

 See Mastro Plastics Corp. v. NLRB, 350 U. S. 270, 285 (1956) (quoting United States v. Boisdoré’s Heirs, 8 How. 113, 122 (1849)); SEC v. C. M. Joiner Leasing Corp., 320 U. S. 344, 350-351 (1943); H. Hart & A. Sacks, The Legal Process 1411 (Tent. ed. 1958).

 See also Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., App. 217 (1871) (Sen. Thurman in opposition) (“[T]here is no limitation whatsoever upon the terms that are employed [in § 1983], and they are as comprehensive as can be used”); id., at 800 (Rep. Perry) (“Now, by our action on this bill we have asserted as fully as we can assert the mischief intended to be remedied”); id., at 476 (Rep. Dawes) (The person who “invades, trenches upon, or impairs one iota or tittle of the least of [constitutional rights], to that extent trenches upon the Constitution and laws of the United States, and this Constitution authorizes us to bring him before the courts to answer therefor”).

 See Note, 68 Harv. L. Rev. 1229, 1232 (1955) (“When a suit is based on deprivation of a federally guaranteed right, the need to enforce federal limitations on state action constitutes a consideration in favor of recovery which is not present in suits under state law”); P. Bator, P. Mishkin, D. Shapiro, & H. Wechsler, Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System 336 (2d ed. 1973) (“[W]here constitutional rights are at stake the courts are properly astute, in construing statutes, to avoid the conclusion that Congress intended to use the privilege of immunity ... in order to defeat them”).

 See Memorandum in Support of Complaint, App. 9-11.

 The action for malicious prosecution grew out of the related action for conspiracy. As early as 1293, various statutes were enacted to aid persons who had been falsely and maliciously indicted or accused of crimes by conspiracy among the defendants. In such cases a writ of conspiracy was employed in seeking redress. By the 16th century, this action was replaced by an action on the case in the nature of a conspiracy, but the allegation of a conspiracy was soon treated as surplusage. The result was an action on the case. See M. Bigelow, Leading Cases on the Law of Torts 190-191 (1875); 1 T. Street, The Foundations of Legal Liability 328-329 (1906); 2 W. Holdsworth, A History of English Law 366 (4th ed. 1936).

 See, e. g., Blizard v. Kelly, 2 Barn. & Cress. 283, 284, 107 Eng. Rep. 389 (K. B. 1823) (“The legal sense and meaning of those words is, that the party made the charge of felony before a magistrate”); Davis v. Noak, 1 Stark. 377, 382, 171 Eng. Rep. 502, 504 (N. P. 1816).

 See, e. g., Fuller v. Cook, 3 Leo. 100, 74 Eng. Rep. 567 (K. B. 1584); Knight v. Jermin, Cro. Eliz. 134, 78 Eng. Rep. 391 (K. B. 1589); Clarke v. Postan, 6 Car. & P. 423, 172 Eng. Rep. 1304 (N. P. 1834); Wheeler v. Nesbitt, 24 How. 544, 546 (1861); Bunton v. Worley, 4 Ky. 38 (1815); Maddox v. Jackson, 4 Munf. 462 (Va. 1815); Hill v. Miles, 9 N. H. 9, 13 (1837) (permitting an action for “maliciously and without reasonable or probable cause, charging a party with felony before a magistrate”); Briggs v. Byrd, 34 N. C. 377, 380 (1851); Center v. Spring, 2 Iowa 393 (1856); Wilkinson v. Arnold, 11 Ind. 45 (1858); Rockwell v. Brown, 36 N. Y. 207, 209 (1867).

 1 reject the majority’s conclusion that the issue of immunity for testimony by a police officer at a probable-cause hearing is not before this Court. The majority emphasizes that the question presented in the petition for certiorari only mentions testimony by a police officer during a crim*352inal trial. Ante, at 329, n. 5. This literal reading of the question presented is contrary to our Rules, which provide that “[t]he statement of a question presented will be deemed to comprise every subsidiary question fairly included therein.” This Court’s Rule 21.1(a). See also Peters v. Kiff, 407 U. S. 493, 495 (1972) (Marshall, J, announcing the judgment of the Court and an opinion in which Douglas and Stewart, JJ., joined) (a challenge to the composition of a grand jury in the questions presented encompassed a challenge to the composition of the petit jury even though the question presented did not mention petit juries).
I believe that the question of witness immunity in one state-court criminal proceeding, the trial, fairly includes the issue of witness immunity in a related state-court criminal proceeding, the probable-cause hearing. The petition for certiorari in this case specifically referred to Officer LaHue’s testimony at “several judicial proceedings relating to the state criminal prosecution,” Pet. for Cert. 7, and it spoke in general terms about absolute witness immunity, e. g., id., at 14, 16-18, 20. Both petitioners and respondents obviously thought the issue was before us since they quoted lengthy excerpts from Officer LaHue’s testimony at the probable-cause hearings in their briefs before this Court. See Brief for Petitioners 3-5; Brief for Respondents 2-4. Petitioner Briscoe has asserted respondent LaHue’s liability for testimony at the probable-cause hearing throughout this proceeding. E. g., App. 9-11, 17-22. Indeed, the District Court appeared to believe that the only issue raised by Briscoe’s complaint involved testimony at a probable-cause hearing. See Briscoe v. LaHue, No. S 78-139 (ND Ind., Oct. 3,1978), App. to Pet. for Cert. A-47. The Court of Appeals discussed the probable-cause hearing testimony, 663 F. 2d 713, 715, and its holding was framed in general terms regarding testimony at judicial proceedings, see ante, at 328, which would certainly include probable-cause hearings.
The majority nonetheless clearly leaves open the issue of immunity for testimony at a probable-cause hearing. Ante, at 329, n. 5. The absence of any immunity in such cases at common law should alone undermine any claim to absolute immunity under § 1983. In addition, the policy considerations applicable to testimony at a probable-cause hearing differ substantially from those relevant to testimony at a trial. For instance, the absence of cross-examination at probable-cause hearings increases the risk that false testimony will go undetected.

 The Court itself noted that its examination of the law was “extended” because of the “importance of [the] subject.” 3 How., at 291.

 Hodgson v. Scarlett, 1 Barn. & Ald. 232, 246-247, 106 Eng. Rep. 86, 91 (K. B. 1818) (Holroyd, J.). See also Kendillon v. Maltby, Car. & M. 402, 409,174 Eng. Rep. 562, 566 (N. P. 1842) (Lord Denman, C. J.); Thomas v. Ghurton, 2 B. & S. 475, 477, 121 Eng. Rep. 1150, 1151 (Q. B. 1862) (Cockburn, C. J.) (reserving the question).

 The Court explained that “falsehood and the absence of probable cause will amount to proof of malice.” 3 How., at 291.

 This jurisdictional grant was contained in the Act of Apr. 20, 1871, § 1, 17 Stat. 13, and was the forerunner of 28 U. S. C. § 1343(3).

 The views of the Supreme Court obviously conflicted with those expressed by some state-court judges. That is precisely the point: federal common law diverged from state common law as to witness immunity. The majority reasons as if state common law controlled the matter. See ante, at 331-333, and nn. 11, 12. Because federal common law prevailed when Congress enacted § 1983, and because the federal remedy provided in the Act was accompanied by a new grant of federal jurisdiction, I believe White v. Nicholls would have been the natural focus of attention for the 42d Congress. The majority does not explain why it thinks that the 42d Congress would instead have focused on state common law.
In any event, the majority’s analysis of state-court decisions is sorely deficient. The proper inquiry in this case as defined by the majority itself is on common-law principles as understood by the Members of the 42d Congress. See ante, at 330. The 42d Congress enacted § 1983 in 1871. Yet the majority inexplicably relies on 11 cases decided after 1871. These cases are plainly irrelevant to the question of the 42d Congress’ intent. Unless it was clairvoyant, the 42d Congress could not possibly have had access to most of the decisions relied on by the majority. By the same token, Congress certainly would not have had the benefit of the views of Van Vechter Veeder, ante, at 332, n. 12, who wrote his article in 1909.
The only arguably relevant support that the majority cites for the view that Congress extended absolute immunity to police officers who give per-jurious testimony consists of eight state-court cases decided before 1871. None of these cases involved testimony by an official of the State, let alone a police officer, and the only support the majority can muster for the notion that the common-law witness immunity drew no distinction between public officials and private citizens is the 1909 article by Van Vechter Veeder. See ante, at 336, n. 15. In three of the pre-1871 cases, plaintiffs suing for defamation prevailed completely. In Smith v. Howard, 28 Iowa 51 (1869), and White v. Carroll, 42 N. Y. 161 (1870), the State Supreme Courts affirmed an award of damages recovered against a defendant who had slandered the plaintiff from the witness stand. Similarly, in Perkins v. Mitchell, 31 Barb. 461 (N. Y. 1860), the state court affirmed a trial court order rejecting a defendant’s demurrer to a complaint. It held that a plaintiff could sue for defamatory statements made by a physician to a Justice of the Peace that resulted in the plaintiff’s commitment as a lunatic. Whatever might have been said about immunity in these cases was, to use the majority’s language, ante, at 332, n. 12, “purely dictum.” Two other cases, Hoar v. Wood, 44 Mass. 193 (1841), and Shelfer v. Gooding, 47 N. C. 175 *356(1855), involved statements by counsel and not statements by a witness. This leaves three pre-1871 state cases upholding witness immunity, and these only as to private witnesses.
As between a smattering of state-court opinions and the extended and well-reasoned analysis of a unanimous Supreme Court, I think the latter would have commanded the attention of the Members of the 42d Congress. In fact, while Members of the 42d Congress displayed little interest in or familiarity with state-court decisions, they often focused on cases from the United States Supreme Court in their deliberations on the 1871 Act. See, e. g., Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 375 (1871) (Cong. Globe) (Rep. Lowe) (citing Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 16 Pet. 539 (1842)); Cong. Globe, at 459 (Rep. Coburn) (citing Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264 (1821)); Cong. Globe, at App. 84 (Rep. Bingham) (citing Barron v. Mayor of Baltimore, 7 Pet. 243 (1833), and Moore v. Illinois, 14 How. 13 (1852)); Cong. Globe, at App. 188 (Rep. Willard) (citing the majority and dissenting opinions in the Dred Scott case, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 393 (1857)); Cong. Globe, at 242 (Sen. Bayard) (citing Withers v. Buckley, 20 How. 84 (1858)); Cong. Globe, at App. 311 (Rep. Shellabarger) (citing Jones v. Van Zandt, 5 How. 215 (1847)).

 Brief for Petitioners 19-20.

 As enacted, § 1 of the 1871 Act read in pertinent part:
“That any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any person within the jurisdiction of the United States to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States, shall, any such law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of the State to the contrary notwithstanding, be liable to the party injured in any action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress . . . .” Act of Apr. 20, 1871, § 1, 17 Stat. 13.
Section 2 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act read in pertinent part:
“That any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any right secured or protected by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or penalties on account of such person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.”

 See, e.g., Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 475-476 (1866) (exchange between Sen. Trumbull, the Senate sponsor of the bill, and Sen. Cowan); id., at 1155 (exchange between Rep. Thayer and Rep. Eldridge); id., at 1267 (Rep. Raymond) (“[I]f a judge or sheriff or any other officer of a State court should take part in enforcing any State law making distinctions among the citizens of the State on account of race or color, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished with fine and imprisonment under this bill); id., at 500 (Sen. Cowan in opposition) (noting that “the judge, the constable, the sheriff, the marshal, and everybody” was liable under § 2); id., at 598 (Sen. Davis in opposition) (“All the parties” who participate in the unjust conviction of a Negro would be liable, including “the grand jury, the petit jury, the judge, and the officer of the law” who executes the judgment).

 E. g., Pierson v. Ray, 386 U. S. 547, 556-557 (1967); Monroe v. Pape, 365 U. S. 167, 187 (1961). See Carey v. Piphus, 435 U. S. 247, 255 (1978); Nahmod, Section 1983 and the “Background” of Tort Liability, 50 Ind. L. J. 5 (1974).

 See, e. g., Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 1293-1295 (1866).

 Because discussion of § 1 of the 1871 Act was so limited, it is simply unrealistic to demand overwhelming evidence that the 42d Congress meant to override a common-law witness immunity. Surely the majority does not mean to define an inquiry that is inherently futile.

 See, e. g., Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 365, 366, (1871) (statements of Rep. Arthur); id., at 385 (statement of Rep. Lewis).

 Id., at App. 217.

 E. g., id,., at 382, App. 46.

 On at least one of the occasions when such remarks were made, Representative Shellabarger was present. See Note, Liability of Judicial Officers Under Section 1983, 79 Yale L. J. 322, 328, n. 40 (1969).

 The majority does concede that witnesses can be punished criminally for violations of 18 U. S. C. § 242, the modern successor of § 2 of the 1866 Act. See ante, at 345, n. 32. It cannot go without mention that the classic English formulation of absolute witness immunity by Lord Mansfield, which even the majority quotes, ante, at 335, precluded civil or criminal liability. King v. Skinner, Lofft 54, 56, 98 Eng. Rep. 529 (K. B. 1772) (“[N]either party, witness, counsel, jury, or judge can be put to answer, civilly, or criminally, for words spoken in office”) (emphasis added). Under early common law, perjury was not a punishable offense. Jurors were merely a body of witnesses whose verdict was based on their own personal knowledge and not on the evidence of others testifying before them. The only method of punishment was by a writ of attaint. See generally 4 W. Holdsworth, A History of English Law 515-519 (3d ed. 1924); Damport v. Sympson, Cro. Eliz. 520, 78 Eng. Rep. 769 (Q. B. 1596).

 See Kates, Immunity of State Judges under the Federal Civil Rights Acts, 65 Nw. U. L. Rev. 615, 622-623 (1970).

 See Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 1680 (1866).

 Id., at 1758.

 See Developments in the Law — Section 1983 and Federalism, 90 Harv. L. Rev. 1133, 1150-1152 (1977).

 See, e. g., Cong. Globe, 42d Cong., 1st Sess., App. 78 (Rep. Perry) (“Sheriffs, having eyes to see, see not; judges, having ears to hear, hear not; witnesses conceal the truth or falsify it; grand and petit juries act as if they might be accomplices”); id., at 394 (Rep. Rainey) (“[T]he courts are in many instances under the control of those who are wholly inimical to the impartial administration of law and equity”); id., at App. 186 (Rep. Platt) (judges exercise their “almost despotic powers . . . against Republicans without regard to law or justice”); id., at App. 277 (Rep. Porter) (“The outrages committed upon loyal men there are under the forms of law. It can be summed up in one word: loyal men cannot obtain justice in the courts . . .”); id., at 429 (referring to “prejudiced juries and bribed judges”).

 The history of § 1 of the 1871 Act casts some doubt on the correctness of Pierson v. Ray, 386 U. S. 547 (1967), and Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S. 409 (1976). Pierson and Imbler are distinguishable, however, on the ground that the policy considerations in those cases are far more powerful. Most significantly, judges and prosecutors must exercise a substantial amount of discretion in performing their official functions, while witnesses sworn to tell the truth do not. See n. 39, infra. In addition, we have only extended qualified immunity to police officers for the performance of many of their other duties. See Pierson, supra, at 557.

 Butz involved an action under Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971). In my view, we should be even more reluctant to import absolute immunities into § 1983 suits than into Bivens ac*365tions. First, with § 1983 we deal with explicit statutory language indicating the broad scope of the action, whereas Bivens actions have been implied by the federal courts. Second, the need to restrain state action implicit in the Fourteenth Amendment is implicated by § 1983 suits, while that Amendment has no relevance to suits against federal officials.

 See Nugent v. Sheppard, 318 F. Supp. 314, 317 (ND Ind. 1970). Cf. Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, supra, at 392 (agent acting in the name of the United States possesses “far greater capacity for harm” than individual trespasser acting on his own).

 Checks and balances built into the trial process may well have limitations and strategic costs. For instance, lengthy cross-examination of an official witness may expose weaknesses in his testimony only at the cost of emphasizing the evidence in the mind of the jury.

 See United States v. Marshall, 488 F. 2d 1169, 1171 (CA9 1973); Veney v. United States, 120 U. S. App. D. C. 157, 157-158, 344 F. 2d 542, 542-543 (1965) (Wright, J., concurring in judgment); People v. Berrios, 28 N. Y. 2d 361, 370, 270 N. E. 2d 709, 714 (1971) (Fuld, C. J., dissenting); People v. Dickerson, 273 Cal. App. 2d 645, 650, n. 4, 78 Cal. Rptr. 400, 403, n. 4 (1969); B. Tarlow, Search Warrants 31-77 (1973); New York City Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption, Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption (1972); Sevilla, The Exclusionary Rule and Police Perjury, 11 San Diego L. Rev. 839 (1974); Grano, A Dilemma for Defense Counsel: Spinelli-Harris Search Warrants and the Possibility of *366Police Perjury, 1971 U. Ill. Law Forum 405, 408-409; Younger, The Perjury Routine, 204 The Nation 596 (1967); Comment, 60 Geo. L. J. 507 (1971); Note, 4 Colum. J. Law & Soc. Probs. 87, 96, n. 40 (1968).

 See Newman, Suing the Law Breakers, 87 Yale L. J. 447, 449-450 (1977).

 Police officers are generally provided free counsel and are indemnified for conduct within the scope of their authority. See Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S., at 713 (Powell, J., concurring); Project, 88 Yale L. J. 781, 810 (1979). This is certainly the state of the law with respect to respondents. See Ind. Code Ann. §§ 34 — 4—16.5—5(b) and 34-4-16.5-18 (Burns Supp. 1982).

 Despite the differences between official witnesses and private witnesses, the majority contends that “immunity analysis rests on functional categories, not on the status of the defendant.” Ante, at 342. However, the cases cited for this proposition, ante, at 342, n. 28, all involve various types of official conduct. The fact that individuals within the govern*367ment should be treated the same because of the functions they perform does not necessarily mean that individuals within the government should be treated the same as private parties.
While relying on functional categories, the majority ignores the classic distinction embodied in immunity cases between acts involving discretion and those that do not. See Kendall v. Stokes 3 How. 87, 98 (1845); McCray v. Maryland, 456 F. 2d 1, 3-4 (CA4 1972) (“Where an official is not called upon to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial discretion, courts have properly refused to extend to him the protection of absolute judicial immunity, regardless of any apparent relationship of his role to the judicial system”). Here, as the lower court noted, 663 F. 2d 713, 719, a witness normally exercises no discretion in the performance of his duty to answer fully and truthfully all questions put to him. As a result, “the need for absolute immunity seems correspondingly less compelling.” Id., at 720.

 See Eisenberg, Section 1983: Doctrinal Foundations and An Empirical Study, 67 Cornell L. Rev. 482, 550-551, 555 (1982). The statistics are for 1975-1976. The estimate given in the text is approximate because Professor Eisenberg has grouped statistics for prisoner § 1983 actions involving false arrest, assault, and search and seizure. See, id., at 555, Table VI.

 A total of 5,810 cases were filed in the Central District of California in 1976. See Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 177, Table 18, 350, Table D-3 (1976).

 There were 7,294 full-time police officers employed by the city of Los Angeles in 1976. See generally U. S. Dept, of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, City Employment in 1976, p. 8, Table 4 (1977) (data for all police department employees).

 Data from another State indicate that the California experience may overstate the burden of false arrest cases. Over more than seven years, a total of only 32 § 1983 suits for false arrest were brought in Federal District Court for all or part of Connecticut. See Project, 88 Yale L. J., supra, at 786, n. 23, 793.

 Former criminal defendants may well wish to avoid further entanglements with the legal system and are unlikely to have the resources needed to pursue such suits. Lawyers will probably have little incentive to become involved in actions against the police, and those that do face an uphill struggle. See Amsterdam, The Supreme Court and the Rights of Suspects in Criminal Cases, 45 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 785, 787 (1970) (civil actions against the police are “very rare, and until recently were so rare as to be insignificant, because the obstacles to their maintenance are formidable”).

 Cf. 2 F. Harper & F. James, Law of Torts 1645 (1956) (“[I]t is stretching the argument pretty far to say that the mere inquiry into malice would have worse consequences than the possibility of actual malice .... Since the danger that official power will be abused is greatest where motives are improper, the balance here may well swing the other way”) (emphasis deleted).