Opinion
Civil Action No. 15-1782 (UNA)
01-14-2016
NATHANAEL LENARD REYNOLDS, Plaintiff, v. JUDGE WILLIAM DRIGGERS, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff brings this civil rights action against the judge and magistrate who presided over plaintiff's criminal case in the courts of Williamsburg County, South Carolina. Generally, plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated rights protected under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He demands compensatory damages among other relief.
Judges, such as the defendants in this action, enjoy absolute immunity from liability for damages for acts taken in their judicial capacity. See Mirales v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9 (1991) (finding that "judicial immunity is an immunity from suit, not just from ultimate assessment of damages"); Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 364 (1978) (concluding that state judge was "immune from damages liability even if his [decision] was in error"); Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 553-54 (1967) ("Few doctrines were more solidly established at common law than the immunity of judges from liability for damages for acts committed within their judicial jurisdiction, as this Court recognized when it adopted the doctrine, in Bradley v. Fisher, 13 Wall. 335, 20 L. Ed. 646 (1872)."). Accordingly, the Court will dismiss this action. An Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion is issued separately. DATE: 1/14/2016
/s/_________
United States District Judge