Imbler v. Pachtman, District Attorney

Decided March 2, 1976. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-5435 · 424 U.S. 409 (1976) · Cited 7,274 times

Holding

A state prosecuting attorney who, as here, acted within the scope of his duties in initiating and pursuing a criminal prosecution and in presenting the State's case, is absolutely immune from a civil suit for damages under 1983 for alleged deprivations of the accused's constitutional rights.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• Moore v. Illinois · 408 U.S. 786 (1972)
• Giglio v. United States · 405 U.S. 150 (1972)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Napue v. Illinois · 360 U.S. 264 (1959)
• Donnelly v. DeChristoforo · 416 U.S. 637 (1974)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Mooney v. Holohan · 294 U.S. 103 (1935)
• O'Connor v. Donaldson · 422 U.S. 563 (1975)
• Gravel v. United States · 408 U.S. 606 (1972)
• Spalding v. Vilas · 161 U.S. 483 (1896)
• Miller v. Pate · 386 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Doe v. McMillan · 412 U.S. 306 (1973)
• Alcorta v. Texas · 355 U.S. 28 (1957)

Cited by

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

• Buckley v. Fitzsimmons · 509 U.S. 259 (1993)
• Burns v. Reed · 500 U.S. 478 (1991)
• Van de Kamp v. Goldstein · 555 U.S. 335 (2009)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Kalina v. Fletcher · 522 U.S. 118 (1997)
• Rehberg v. Paulk · 566 U.S. 356 (2012)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Richardson v. McKnight · 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
• Town of Newton v. Rumery · 480 U.S. 386 (1987)
• Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati · 475 U.S. 469 (1986)
• Filarsky v. Delia · 566 U.S. 377 (2012)
• Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• Wyatt v. Cole · 504 U.S. 158 (1992)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Manuel v. City of Joliet · 580 U.S. 357 (2017)
• Nieves v. Bartlett · 587 U.S. 391 (2019)
• United States v. Rodgers · 461 U.S. 677 (1983)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).