In this somewhat confusing opinion, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
held that county prosecutors, defendants in a civil, rights lawsuit brought
by two men who were falsely arrested, were not entitled to absolute
immunity on numerous claims, including a claim that they illegally punished
the two men during a post-arrest detention.

Plaintiffs, Earl Gobel and Michael DeFranco, were mistakenly identified and
falsely arrested on charges of issuing bad checks. The charges were later
dropped. Plaintiffs subsequently brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against
Maricopa County (Arizona), two county prosecutors, and an investigator.
Plaintiffs alleged that the prosecutors allowed their arrests to be filmed
by reporters, "falsely accused [them] of criminal conduct at these media
events," and detained them for hours in "a metal police wagon in 108 degree
heat without food, water," adequate ventilation, or bathroom facilities.
The detentions were apparently "connected to the publicizing of their arrests."

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona dismissed, and
plaintiffs appealed.

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded, holding:
1) Prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity when acting within the
scope of their authority and in a quasi-judicial capacity. "Quasi-judicial
activities are those which are 'intimately associated, with …

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that issues
of fact precluded summary judgment of an arrestee's civil rights action
stemming from his warrantless arrest and his imprisonment for failure to
pay fines and court costs, and that remand was necessary to determine if
the county court had sovereign immunity.

Plaintiff Lloyd Alkire was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and
held in the Homes County (Ohio) Jail for nearly 72 hours without a probable
cause hearing. He later pleaded no contest to the DWI charges and received
15 days in jail and ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling $620.
Alkire was later arrested on three separate occasions for failure to pay,
and on two of those occasions he was sentenced to 30 days in jail. No
inquiry was ever made into Alkire's ability to pay.

Alkire ultimately brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against defendants
Holmes County, Judge Jane Irving, Holmes County Court, and the sheriff
alleging that "his constitutional rights were violated by his warrantless
detention and civil debt-related incarceration." Alkire and defendants
moved for summary judgment. The United States District Court for the
Northern District of Ohio granted defendants' summary …

On December 31, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California awarded $850,000 to a man who was falsely arrested and
imprisoned for seven weeks due to misidentification by the federal Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA).

In 1999, the DEA was investigating a drug cartel in Southern California. …

John H. Queener was arrested on May 9, 1989, as the result of a standard
warrant search during a traffic stop. The warrant was issued on January 16,
1986 by the Washington State Department of Corrections Community
Supervision Office. However, on April 11, 1986, that warrant was cleared
and should …

On October 25, 2002, a California jury awarded $55,000 to a man who was
falsely arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and held in
jail for approximately 4 1/2 days before being released.

Plaintiff Roger Brass was arrested on the morning of April 6, 1997, by Los
Angeles …

Susan Garner was scheduled to be released on June 19, 1998 from the custody of the Washington Department of Corrections. However, her Community Corrections Officer failed to notify law enforcement as required by statute and she was detained an additional 35 days.

Following her release, Ms. Garner filed a tort …

Rosalie Hanstad was pulled over by a Washington State trooper for speeding
and was subsequently arrested on a probation warrant. She filed suit under
42 U.S.C. § 1983 in state court and a tort complaint for intentional and
emotional distress and false and illegal arrest for community corrections
officer Dennis Wheeler's "failure to have the warrant quashed dated back
more than a year, during which time he knowingly allowed the warrant to
remain active, despite knowing there was no lawful basis for the warrant,"
and having a duty to quash the warrant. As a result of the arrest, Hanstad
spent five days in jail. On September 10, 2002, Hanstad agreed to settle
the claim for $5,000. She was represented by L. Michael Golden of the law
firm of Monte Hester in Tacoma. See: Hanstad v. State of Washington, Pierce
County Superior Court, Case No. 02-2-06569-0.

Raymond Stokes' early release date was calculated as July 28, 1998.
However, due to his status as a disabled person, DOC officials at the
Clallam Bay Corrections Center, in Clallam Bay, Washington, refused to
credit Mr. Stokes with the good time he was entitled to and he was forced
to …

In February 1993, Jaramie Womack committed a burglary in Wyoming. In July
of that same year, Mr. Womack committed a robbery in Washington. He was
sentenced to 3 to 6 years for the Wyoming offense and was extradited to
Washington, where he received a 42 month sentence for the robbery …

On May 1, 1995, John Lizee was arrested for a community supervision
violation by his community corrections officer and confined at the Airway
Heights Corrections Center, in Spokane, Washington, until May 4, 1995. Mr.
Lizee's arrest and confinement was based on a faulty interpretation of a
urinalysis drug test, which …