Judicial Immunity

Missouri and federal courts recognize judicial immunity. Judicial immunity exempts conduct from civil or criminal liability. It is “conduct which is intimately associated with the judicial phase of the judicial process.” White v. Camden Cnty. Sheriff’s Dept, 106 S.W.3d 626, 633 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). The defense may be invoked by individuals who are not judges. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 47 U.S. 800, 810-11 (1982). It is the judicial function, not the judicial office, that requires protection. State ex rel. Bird v. Weinstock, 864 S.W.2d 376, 283 (Mo. Ct. App. 1993).

Accordingly, various courts have held various participants in judicial proceedings are immune from liability for the actions undertaken in performance of their roles as integral parts of the judicial process. Tolu v. Reid, 639 S.W.3d 504, 517 (Mo. Ct. App. 2021). “Judicial immunity exists not for the protection or benefit of a malicious or corrupt judge, but for the benefit of the public, in whose interest it is that the judges should be at liberty to exercise their functions with independence and without fear of consequences.” State ex rel. Raack v. Kohn, 720 S.W.2d 941, 944 (Mo. 1986).