Charles a. Rehberg, Petitioner v. James P. Paulk

Decided April 2, 2012. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 10-788 · 566 U.S. 356 (2012) · Cited 808 times

Holding

A witness in a grand jury proceeding is entitled to the same absolute immunity from suit under § 1983 as a witness who testifies at trial.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Kalina v. Fletcher · 522 U.S. 118 (1997)
• Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
• Burns v. Reed · 500 U.S. 478 (1991)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc. · 463 U.S. 418 (1983)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• Buckley v. Fitzsimmons · 509 U.S. 259 (1993)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• Forrester v. White · 484 U.S. 219 (1988)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• Dennis v. Sparks · 449 U.S. 24 (1980)
• O'Connor v. Donaldson · 422 U.S. 563 (1975)
• Douglas Oil Co. of Cal. v. Petrol Stops Northwest · 441 U.S. 211 (1979)
• Pulliam v. Allen · 466 U.S. 522 (1984)
• Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
• Stewart v. Sonneborn · 98 U.S. 187 (1879)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Manuel v. City of Joliet · 580 U.S. 357 (2017)
• Gonzalez v. Trevino · 602 U.S. 653 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).