Case Citator › Imbler v. Pachtman

Imbler v. Pachtman

Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.

Limited by some courts
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Citation
424 U.S. 409
Decided
Confirmed treatments
2
Flagged citations read
412 of 412
Citing cases (total)
7,266
Treatment dates
1980–1991
Limited by some courts
At least one reviewed court has limited this case’s holding to narrower facts or a narrower rule. No reviewed court has overruled it. Imbler v. Pachtman remains controlling for a prosecutor's advocacy, but later courts declined to extend its absolute immunity to two other prosecutorial functions, as listed below. All 412 flagged citations have been read.
More on how this was screened

A Puerto Rico decision separately chose a narrower immunity rule for claims under its own law.

Every treatment on this page is written from the citing opinion itself, with a verbatim quote, never copied from a commercial citator. A citation flagged by our screen but not shown here was read and found not to weaken this case.

7,266 later cases cite Imbler v. Pachtman; 412 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.

Relying on Imbler v. Pachtman?

This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.

Treatments

Limited

  • The court declined to extend Imbler's absolute immunity to a prosecutor's alleged destruction of evidence.

    Wilkinson v. Ellis · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania · filed

    Although the policies undergirding Imbler could be further served by extending prosecutorial immunity to destruction of evidence, we believe it improvident to extend the immunity beyond the boundaries necessary to ensure that the underlying policies are fulfilled.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Court declined to extend Imbler's absolute immunity to legal advice a prosecutor gave police during an investigation.

    Burns v. Reed · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    We do not believe, however, that advising the police in the investigative phase of a criminal case is so “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,” Imbler, 424 U. S., at 430, that it qualifies for absolute immunity.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

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