Court Opinion

ID: 9426088
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:16:47.032424+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:58.989921
License: Public Domain

Me. Justice Douglas,
dissenting.
I would affirm the judgment below.
The basic issues in this case were canvassed by me in Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U. S. 367, 381-383 (1951) (dissenting opinion), and by the Court in Dombrowski v. Eastland, 387 U. S. 82 (1967), in an opinion which I joined.. Under our federal regime that delegates, by the Constitution and Acts of Congress, awesome powers to individuals, those powers may not be used to deprive people of their First Amendment or other constitutional rights. It is my view that no official, no matter how high or majestic his or her office, who is within the reach of judicial process, may invoke immunity for his actions for which wrongdoers normally suffer. There may be few occasions when, on the merits, it w;ould be appropriate to invoke such a remedy. But no regime of law that can rightfully claim that name may make trustees of these vast powers immune from actions brought by people who have been wronged by official action. See Watkins v. United States, 354 U. S. 178, 198 (1957).