West Virginia Judicial Field Trip: Man fights to uphold court ruling that judges aren't above the la
https://ij.org/case/west-virginia-judicial-field-trip/
West Virginia Judicial Field Trip
Man fights to uphold court ruling that judges aren't above the law
Judges are not entitled to do whatever they want, and then demand special treatment just because they happen to wear a robe at work. But thats exactly what happened in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
During divorce proceedings between Matthew Gibson and his ex-wife, Raleigh County family-court judge Louise Goldston personally forced her way into Matthews home to search for items that were in dispute. Goldstonaccompanied by Matthews ex-wife and the ex-wifes attorney, among otherswalked barefoot through the house, ordering Matthews ex-wife to seize DVDs, yearbooks, and pictures off the wall. Some of the items didnt even belong to Matthews ex-wife. And when Matthew tried to record the encounter, the judge threatened him with arrest. Goldston was ultimately censured and fined, and roundly condemned, by the West Virginia high court for violating the states code of judicial conduct.
When Matthew sued for these egregious violations of his privacy and free-speech rights, Goldston argued that she was not liableeven if she had violated the Constitutionby invoking a court-made doctrine called judicial immunity. Judicial immunity, as the name suggests, shields judges from liability only for things they do in their roles as judges. Goldston argued that she was entitled to judicial immunitys special protections for leading a search party through Matthews home.
But judicial immunity is reserved for judicial actions, and searching someones home is not a judicial act. Just like police officers cannot act like judges, judges cannot act like police officers. The trial court correctly recognized this principle and denied Goldston judicial immunity for her actions. Nonetheless, Goldston is now appealing that decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On appeal, Matthew is teaming up with the Institute for Justice to protect important constitutional guarantees by holding judges accountable.
[...]