44
OCTOBER TERM, 1997
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the first circuit
No. 96-1569. Argued December 3, 1997—Decided March 3, 1998
Respondent Scott-Harris filed suit under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 against the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, petitioners Bogan (the city's mayor) and Roderick (the vice president of the city council), and other officials, alleging that the elimination of the city department in which Scott-Harris was the sole employee was motivated by racial animus and a desire to retaliate against her for exercising her First Amendment rights in filing a complaint against another city employee. The District Court twice denied petitioners' motions to dismiss on the ground of absolute immunity from suit. The jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants on the racial discrimination charge, but found the city and petitioners liable on respondent's First Amendment claim. The First Circuit set aside the verdict against the city but affirmed the judgments against Roderick and Bogan. Although concluding that petitioners have absolute immunity from civil liability for damages arising out of their performance of legitimate legislative activities, that court held that their conduct in introducing, voting for, and signing the ordinance that eliminated respondent's office was not "legislative." Relying on the jury's finding that respondent's constitutionally sheltered speech was a substantial or motivating factor underlying petitioners' conduct, the court reasoned that the conduct was administrative, rather than legislative, because Roderick and Bogan relied on facts relating to a particular individual, respondent, in the decisionmaking calculus.
Held:
1. Local legislators are entitled to the same absolute immunity from civil liability under § 1983 for their legislative activities as has long been accorded to federal, state, and regional legislators. See, e. g., Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U. S. 367, 372, 372-376; Amy v. Supervisors, 11 Wall. 136, 138, distinguished. Such immunity finds pervasive support not only in common-law cases and older treatises, but also in reason. See Tenney, 341 U. S., at 376. The rationales for according absolute immunity to federal, state, and regional legislators apply with equal force to local legislators. Regardless of the level of government, the exercise of legislative discretion should not be inhibited by judicial interference or distorted by the fear of personal liability. See, e. g., id., at 377. Furthermore, the time and energy required to defend against a lawsuit are
Page: Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007