387 U.S. 82 (1967), 118, Dombrowski v. Eastland
Docket Nº | No. 118 |
Citation | 387 U.S. 82, 87 S.Ct. 1425, 18 L.Ed.2d 577 |
Party Name | Dombrowski v. Eastland |
Case Date | May 15, 1967 |
Court | United States Supreme Court |
Page 82
Argued February 20, 1967
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Petitioners claim that respondents, Chairman of the Internal Security Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee's chief counsel, tortiously entered into and participated in a conspiracy with Louisiana officials to seize petitioners' property and records in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Louisiana courts held the arrests and searches illegal. Here, the court below, while recognizing difficulty in concluding that there were no disputed issues of fact respecting petitioners' claim, upheld summary dismissal of the action on the ground of respondents' legislative immunity.
Held: Since there is no evidence of the respondent Chairman's "involvement in any activity that could result in liability," the complaint as to him was properly dismissed. The doctrine of legislative immunity protects
legislators engaged "in the sphere of legitimate legislative activity," . . . not only from the consequences of litigation's results, but also from the burden of defending themselves.
However, the doctrine of legislative immunity is less absolute when applied to officers or employees of legislative bodies. There is a sufficient factual dispute with respect to the alleged participation in the conspiracy of the subcommittee's chief counsel to require that a trial be had. The legal consequences of such participation, if it occurred, cannot be determined prior to the factual refinement of trial. The judgment below is therefore reversed as to the subcommittee's chief counsel. 123 U.S.App.D.C.190, 358 F.2d 821, affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part.
Per curiam opinion.
PER CURIAM.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sustained the order granting summary judgment
Page 83
to the respondents who are, respectively, the Chairman and counsel of the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate. Petitioners' claim is essentially that respondents tortiously entered into and participated in a conspiracy and concert of action with Louisiana officials to seize property and records of petitioners by unlawful means in violation of petitioners' Fourth Amendment rights. The circumstances of the searches and arrests involved are set forth in Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479 (1965), and in Judge Wisdom's dissenting opinion in the District [87 S.Ct. 1427] Court in that case, 227 F.Supp. 556, 573 (D.C.E.D.La.1964). Louisiana courts held the arrests and searches illegal because the warrants secured by the police had not been supported by a showing of probable cause. In a civil suit by these same petitioners against the Louisiana officials allegedly involved in the conspiracy, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversing a summary judgment in favor of third-party defendants, held that plaintiffs had raised a genuine issue of...
To continue reading
Request your trialGood news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers can access the reported version of this case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.

There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.
Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
There are many other reasons to subscribe.
-
Global Coverage
Access over 120 million legal information documents, including the largest collection of common law and civil law content on one intuitive and advanced service.
-
Updated with over 20,000 cases each month
Each month thousands of new cases and legal documents are added to vLex Justis, providing you with up-to-date content and a wider range of information to support your research.
-
AI-powered research
Are you confident your research is complete? Use our AI-powered tool, Vincent, to conduct truly comprehensive research, based on in-document search and analysis.
-
Know where to start your research
The only service to feature exclusive, comprehensive and up-to-date legal information from 130 jurisdictions. This includes the largest collections of common and civil law judgments, exclusive law reports, legislation, regulations, dockets, books, journals and international news.
Good news, we have found a currently active account with this email!
You can sign in here.
Forgot your password?
To reset your password, you can go here.
A verification link has been sent to your email account!
Please click on the link that has been sent to your email account to verify your email and continue the registration process.
We have found that your academic organisation currently subscribes to vLex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
We have found that your organisation currently subscribes to vlex.
To receive access to vLex:
- Use the following link to sign up from your portal.
- Please contact your resource manager to setup an account.
- If you have an email address with the organisation, please use that.
OR
You can signup for an individual account here.