Cite as: 523 U. S. 574 (1998)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
wide variety of civil rights and "constitutional tort" claims that trial judges confront, broad discretion in the management of the factfinding process may be more useful and equitable to all the parties than the categorical rule imposed by the Court of Appeals.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice Kennedy, concurring.
Prisoner suits under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 can illustrate our legal order at its best and its worst. The best is that even as to prisoners the government must obey always the Constitution. The worst is that many of these suits invoke our basic charter in support of claims which fall somewhere between the frivolous and the farcical and so foster disrespect for our laws.
We must guard against disdain for the judicial system. As Madison reminds us, if the Constitution is to endure, it must from age to age retain "th[e] veneration which time bestows." James Madison, The Federalist No. 49, p. 314 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961). The analysis by The Chief Justice addresses these serious concerns. I am in full agreement with the Court, however, that the authority to propose those far-reaching solutions lies with the Legislative Branch, not with us.
Chief Justice Rehnquist, with whom Justice O'Connor joins, dissenting.
The petition on which we granted certiorari in this case presents two questions. The first asks:
"In a case against a government official claiming she retaliated against the plaintiff for his exercise of First Amendment rights, does the qualified immunity doctrine require the plaintiff to prove the official's unconstitu-
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