Judicial immunity necessary ingredient for honest, sound court system

Lawyers' Forum

By David P. Sterba

David P. Sterba is a retired Illinois appellate justice and a former presiding judge and trial judge. He is currently a partner at Walsh Fewkes & Sterba in Palos Heights and an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School.

Posted January 18, 2017 1:12 PM

This country has always had a populist streak, and one populist principle in particular animates the American justice system: all people, no matter how rich or powerful, are equal in the eyes of the law.But to provide equal justice, the law had to develop a way to prevent disappointed litigants from harassing judges. American courts found a most unpopulist solution to this problem: judicial immunity from collateral civil litigation.On a superficial level, this might seem ironic but without such immunity courts could not …

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