SG says federal agents entitled to immunity

In an invitation brief filed late last month, the Justice Department recommended the Court grant the petition in Morris v. Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (07-811) and summarily reverse the decision below. The petition, filed in response to a Sixth Circuit ruling, was submitted by two FBI agents denied qualified immunity for their role in the detention and questioning of three anti-abortion protestors outside Dayton, Ohio.

The SG’s brief says that in reversing the district court’s entry of summary judgment for the agents, the Sixth Circuit “clearly misapplied qualified immunity principles,” making its ruling a candidate for summary reversal. Alternatively, the Solicitor General said the Court may wish to hold the petition pending its decision Pearson v. Callahan (07-751), to be argued October 14, where the Justices asked the parties to brief the question of whether to overrule Saucier v. Katz (2001), which established the present standard for evaluating claims of qualified immunity.

Though both petitioners are federal agents, the Solicitor General did not originally authorize an appeal of the Sixth Circuit’s ruling. Instead, the agents retained private counsel to file their petition. The invitation brief would thus appear to resolve any question as to whether the SG’s office doubted the validity of the petitioners’ legal claims.