Johnson v. Rex
474 U.S. 967
SCOTUS
1985
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JOHNSON v. REX

No. 84-1990

C. A. 10th Cir.

474 U.S. 967

in the management of the county prison system. The state courts continue to exercise comprehensive jurisdiction over the prison system‘s administration through use of a Special Master, by holding hearings, and by issuing remedial orders and ordering fines. Should the District Court exercise its equitable powers as sought in this second suit, the Philadelphia prisons may thus become subject to potentially conflicting and contrary determinations as to the appropriate remedy for the alleged unconstitutional conditions. Although plaintiffs here additionally seek damages, there is no bar to the assertion of that claim in the state proceedings. So long as plaintiffs have an opportunity to raise their federal claims in the state action, “[n]o more is required to invoke

abstention.”
. I would grant the writ of certiorari and reverse the Court of Appeals judgment.

CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER, with whom JUSTICE REHNQUIST and JUSTICE O‘CONNOR join, dissenting.

In this case the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that a prosecutor is not entitled to absolute immunity from liability in a civil rights suit brought under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 based upon the prosecutor‘s presence during questioning of the plaintiff. Absolute immunity was denied even though the prosecutor was present not as an investigator but as a counsel to advise on compliance with

.

In

, this Court established an absolute immunity for prosecutors engaged in activities associated with the criminal process. This Court left open the extent to which investigative activities by prosecutors would also come within the umbrella of absolute immunity. But the principle of absolute immunity established in
was based on the need to ensure sound decisionmaking by the prosecutor by protecting from fear of retaliatory suits for vigorous law enforcement. Here the prosecutor was acting as an officer of the court in ensuring compliance with the
requirements, and I would grant the petition for certiorari in order to define the applicability of absolute immunity in this context; surely the prosecutor‘s action was well within his function as a prosecutor and officer of the court.