Opinion
24-cv-04480-PCP
08-15-2024
AUDREY L. KIMNER, Plaintiff, v. CAMERON MCGOWAN CURRIE, et al., Defendants.
ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT
P. Casey Pitts United States District Judge
Plaintiff Audrey Kimner has filed this civil action against District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie and Magistrate Judge Shiva V. Hodges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Ms. Kimner's motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Dkt. No. 2) is granted.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) requires the Court to review complaints filed by litigants who are proceeding without paying filing fees to determine, among other things, if the action seeks relief against an immune defendant. As this Court explained when it recently dismissed a similar lawsuit by Ms. Kimner against two Ninth Circuit judges, “[a] longstanding principle of American jurisprudence is that judges maintain absolute judicial immunity from monetary relief for decisions made in their roles as judges.” Kimner v. Graber, No. 24-cv-02912-PCP (N.D. Cal. Jun. 17, 2024) (Pitts, J.); see also Mullis v. U.S. Bankr. Ct. for D. Nev., 828 F.2d 1385, 1388 (9th Cir. 1987) (“Judges are absolutely immune from civil liability for damages for their judicial acts.”). A judge does not lose immunity if an action was “in error, done maliciously, or in excess of his authority.” Mullis, 828 F.2d at 1388. Instead, judges lose immunity only if they have “acted in the clear absence of all jurisdiction.” Id. (cleaned up).
Ms. Kimner's complaint challenges decisions by Judge McGowan and Judge Hodges in a case Ms. Kimner filed in South Carolina. The challenged actions-including issuing orders and making decisions about recusal, hearings, and appeals-are clearly judicial in nature. Both defendants are absolutely immune from liability for these actions, and the complaint does not suggest that defendants were acting in the absence of jurisdiction. Because Ms. Kimner is seeking relief from defendants who are absolutely immune from civil liability, her claims against them are dismissed without leave to amend.
IT IS SO ORDERED.