416
Scalia, J., dissenting
ions have done, see, e. g., Burns v. Reed, 500 U. S. 478, 489- 490 (1991); Tower v. Glover, 467 U. S. 914, 920 (1984), but simply set forth a policy prescription. At this stage in our jurisprudence it is irrational, and productive of harmful policy consequences, to rely upon lack of case support to create an artificial limitation upon the scope of a doctrine (prison-guard immunity) that was itself not based on case support. I say an artificial limitation, because the historical principles on which common-law immunity was based, and which are reflected in our jurisprudence, plainly cover the private prison guard if they cover the nonprivate. Those principles are two: (1) immunity is determined by function, not status, and (2) even more specifically, private status is not disqualifying.
"[O]ur cases clearly indicate that immunity analysis rests on functional categories, not on the status of the defendant." Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U. S. 325, 342 (1983). Immunity "flows not from rank or title or 'location within the Government,' . . . but from the nature of the responsibilities of the individual official." Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U. S. 193, 201 (1985), quoting Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478 (1978). "Running through our cases, with fair consistency, is a 'functional' approach to immunity questions . . . . Under that approach, we examine the nature of the functions with which a particular official or class of officials has been lawfully entrusted, and we seek to evaluate the effect that exposure to particular forms of liability would likely have on the appropriate exercise of those functions." Forrester v. White, 484 U. S. 219, 224 (1988). See also Buckley, supra, at 269; Burns, supra, at 484-486; Malley v. Briggs, 475 U. S. 335, 342-343 (1986); Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 810-811 (1982); Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U. S. 409, 420-429 (1976). The parties concede that petitioners perform a prototypically governmental function (enforcement of state-imposed deprivation of liberty), and one that gives rise to qualified immunity.
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