Reminded today of Shareef Cousin, who sued after he was convicted & sentenced to death, then exonerated. Cousin alleged that during his trial, the state arrested and jailed alibi witnesses on fake charges so they couldn't testify. 5C acknowledged that if true, that would be illegal. But also . . .
. . . that jailing alibi witnesses on fake charges to stop them from testifying in a criminal trial is an "official act," and therefore protected by absolute immunity (a doctrine that the Supreme Court invented from whole cloth.)
one of the few instances I remember when a prosecutor's office did *not* get absolute immunity was when ACLU sued the New Orleans DA for sending fake subpoenas to witnesses and crime victims.
