Oliva v. Heller, 724
| Decision Date | 05 February 1988 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 724,724 |
| Citation | 839 F.2d 37 |
| Parties | Vincent OLIVA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Kirby HELLER, Defendant-Appellee. ocket 87-2399. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Vincent Oliva, plaintiff-appellant pro se.
Ellen B. Silverman, Asst. U.S. Atty. for S.D.N.Y., New York City (Rudolph W. Giuliani, U.S. Atty. for S.D.N.Y., Fredrick M. Lawrence, Asst. U.S. Atty., of counsel), for defendant-appellee.
Before LUMBARD, WINTER and ALTIMARI, Circuit Judges.
This appeal raises the question of whether the absolute immunity enjoyed by judges in the exercise of their judicial authority extends to the actions of law clerks who assist judges in carrying out judicial functions. We hold that it does, and so affirm the district court.
In 1982, plaintiff Vincent Oliva was convicted in the Eastern District of New York of conspiring to rob a bank and entering a bank with intent to commit larceny after a jury trial held before Judge Nickerson. Judge Nickerson sentenced Oliva to two concurrent terms of five and ten years. Oliva's conviction was affirmed on appeal.
Subsequently, Oliva filed a motion with Judge Nickerson to set aside and vacate the judgment of conviction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255. Judge Nickerson denied the motion on June 29, 1984, and we affirmed in an unpublished opinion on April 9, 1985. On May 19, 1986, Oliva filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2241 (1982) in the Southern District of New York. The case was assigned to Judge Haight, who found that, in essence, Oliva's Section 2241 petition was properly a motion to vacate sentence pursuant to Section 2255 and therefore could be brought only in the sentencing court. Accordingly, Judge Haight transferred the case to the Eastern District where it was assigned to Judge Nickerson. Judge Nickerson uses an "even-odd" system for assigning work to his two law clerks, in which one clerk is assigned cases with even docket numbers and the other clerk is assigned cases with odd docket numbers. Because Oliva's original criminal case had an odd number, his Section 2255 action was assigned in July 1986 to Judge Nickerson's "odd" law clerk, Kirby Ann Heller. Several months earlier, however, Heller had accepted a position with the United States Attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York, to begin upon the completion of her clerkship. After accepting the offer of employment with the United States Attorney, she worked on cases in which the United States Attorney appeared only with the consent of all parties. Whenever consent was withheld, the case would be assigned to her co-clerk. In Oliva's case, the United States Attorney opposed the Section 2255 motion; however, through an oversight, Oliva's consent to Heller's working on his case was neither sought nor obtained. On July 18, 1986 Judge Nickerson denied Oliva's motion.
After learning of Heller's pending employment with the United States Attorney, Oliva sought reconsideration of his motion and Judge Nickerson's recusal from the case. On August 26, 1986, Judge Nickerson recused himself, not because he believed there was any prejudice to Oliva, but because he wished to avoid "even the slightest appearance of impropriety." The case was then reassigned to Judge Platt On September 10, 1986, Oliva filed the present Bivens action, see Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971), against Heller, claiming she had violated his rights under first and fifth amendments of the Constitution. He sought, inter alia, $175,000 in compensatory damages, $5,000,000 in punitive damages, and injunctive and declaratory relief in the form of "judicial notice that all of [his] motions should be reconsidered in a manner consistent with Due Process and Equal Protection of the Laws." In the district court he also sought appointment of counsel to help him pursue requested discovery and by letter moved to prevent the Justice Department from representing defendant Heller. Heller moved to dismiss Oliva's complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) on the grounds that as a judge's law clerk assisting the judge in the performance of his duties she was entitled to absolute immunity. In the alternative, she moved for summary judgment. The district court granted Heller's motion and dismissed the case. Oliva v. Heller, 670 F.Supp. 523 (S.D.N.Y.1987).
who interpreted Oliva's motion as an attack on Judge Nickerson's 1984 denial of Oliva's original Section 2255 motion, rejected that attack and dismissed all of Oliva's other claims on the merits. Oliva then filed a motion to reconsider, arguing that he was seeking to vacate Judge Nickerson's July 18, 1986 order, not the June 29, 1984 order. Judge Platt granted the motion to reconsider and then, assuming Oliva's interpretation to be correct, once again denied all of Oliva's claims on the merits.
Judges are granted absolute immunity from liability for acts taken pursuant to their judicial power and authority:
"not for the protection or benefit of a malicious or corrupt judge, but for the benefit of the public, whose interest it is that the judges should be at liberty to exercise their functions with independence and without fear of consequences." It is a judge's duty to decide all cases within his jurisdiction that are brought before him, including controversial cases that arouse the most intense feelings in the litigants. His errors may be corrected on appeal, but he should not have to fear that unsatisfied litigants may hound him with litigation charging malice or corruption.
Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967) (citations omitted); cf. Forrester v. White, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 538, 98 L.Ed.2d 555 (1988) (). The concern for the integrity of the judicial process underlying the absolute immunity of judges also is reflected in the extension of absolute immunity to "certain others who perform functions closely associated with the judicial process." Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U.S. 193, 200, 106 S.Ct. 496, 500, 88 L.Ed.2d 507 (1985). Included among these others are prosecutors, administrative law judges and hearing examiners, grand jurors and witnesses in judicial proceedings. Id.; see Butz v. Economou, ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bettencourt v. Board of Registration In Medicine of Com. of Mass.
...Slotnick v. Staviskey, 560 F.2d 31, 32 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1077, 98 S.Ct. 1268, 55 L.Ed.2d 783 (1977); Oliva v. Heller, 839 F.2d 37, 40 (2d Cir.1988), defendant Hyams should receive absolute immunity for his actions as legal adviser in plaintiff's case before the The remainin......
-
Kahoe v. Fiol
... ... judge's own exercise of the judicial function.); ... Oliva v. Heller , 839 F.2d 37, 40 (2d Cir. 1988) ... (“[F]or purposes of absolute judicial ... ...
-
Gelatt v. County of Broome, NY
...has been held to apply to those who perform functions that are integrally related to the judicial process. See, e.g., Oliva v. Heller, 839 F.2d 37, 40 (2d Cir.1988) (judicial law clerks); Mitchell v. McBryde, 944 F.2d 229, 230 (5th Cir.1991) (same); Dellenbach v. Letsinger, 889 F.2d 755 (7t......
-
Daniel v. Safir
...reasons, plaintiff's claims against Judge Yellen's law clerks and Judge Rooney's law clerk should also be dismissed. See Oliva v. Heller, 839 F.2d 37, 39 (2d Cir.1988) (noting that judicial immunity extends to law C. Baum, Weinstock, Garbarini & Scher, and Verizon Plaintiff claims that defe......
-
Prisoners' Rights
...counsel appropriate because exceptional circumstances existed due to possible merit of detainee’s claims). But see, e.g., Oliva v. Heller, 839 F.2d 37, 40 (2d Cir. 1988) (appointment of counsel inappropriate because, other than question of immunity for defendants, suit manifestly frivolous)......