Engebretson v. Mahoney, No. 10-35626 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff and his wife filed a pro se action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against defendants, the warden of the prison where defendant had served his sentence and the director of the Montana Department of Corrections, seeking damages related to his sentence and probation. The court concluded that prison officials who simply enforced facially valid court orders were performing functions necessary to the judicial process. Accordingly, the court held that prison officials, like defendants in this case, who were charged with executing facially valid court orders enjoyed absolute immunity from section 1983 liability for conduct prescribed by those orders. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
Court Description: Civil Rights. Affirming the district court’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of a complaint, the panel held that prison officials enjoy absolute immunity from liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for conduct prescribed by facially valid court orders. Plaintiffs sought money damages for an alleged illegal term of probation. The panel held that prison officials who simply enforce facially valid court orders are performing functions necessary to the judicial process and they must not be required to second-guess the courts if that process is to work fairly and efficiently.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on June 28, 2013.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.