Can a judge be sued for libel if he signs an Order that contains libelous statements about a person?
A judge removed me as Executor of an Estate some four years after approving my Final Account “as is” and my fees and expenses in full. The Order he signed claims that I had failed to comply with the Probate Act, that I was “unfit” for office, and that I had “wasted and mismanaged” the assets of the Estate. Even though approval of the Final Account some four years earlier showed that I had complied with the Probate Act, and the only fees and expenses paid from the Estate were those approved by the judge in 2002, the Order was still signed by the judge. No evidence of waste or fraud on my part was ever proven, and the judge held no hearing substantiating any of these libelous statements before signing a fraudulent Order. The concept of “judicial immunity” does not seem to protect a judge from libel, but I am not sure.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:42 am
You can’t sue the judge for libel or slander because one of his orders contained factually false statements.
What you can do is request a hearing to prove these facts. If a hearing is not granted you can appeal the judge’s order. The appeal would be based on two aspects. 1) The order contained statements that were factually incorrect, and 2) You were not granted a hearing to prove these statements as facts.
http://www.precious-christian-dailydevotionals.com/the-lords-prayer.html
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May 26th, 2010 at 5:38 am
It depends. In order to determine whether something is libelous, a decision has to be made if the statement is (1) factually true; (2) an opinion protected under free speech, whether true or not; (3) factually untrue, but not malicious; or (4) factually untrue and intended to harm someone’s reputation. The first three instances are not libelous, but the fourth example is. Judges have an obligation to obey the law, and if they sign orders recklessly with an intent to cause harm, some action may be taken against them under limited conditions. Judges lose their immunity from being sued under two conditions: (1) when they knowingly act without jurisdiction and (2) when they assume the role of a prosecutor. As it appears from the question that no hearing was held here, but the person was prosecuted without cause, I think that judicial immunity might fail here–if not for libel, but for an action based on a breach of Civil Rights. Filing an appeal doesn’t resolve the underlying libel in the order, which was the point of the question; all an appeal does is force the victim to waste money having the libelous statements removed, while not curing the defamation.
http://www.precious-christian-dailydevotionals.com/the-lords-prayer.html
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May 26th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Since this was four years ago, has this order caused you harm in your wages or getting clients. If not, let it go. Because if he can support his statements, they can pursue criminal charges against you. If these statements did harm you and are false, you can file a complaint with your state Commission on Judicial Conduct. They will investigate the actions of the judge. Since it is this long ago, let it go. You might open up a box of problems for yourself.
http://www.precious-christian-dailydevotionals.com/the-lords-prayer.html
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May 26th, 2010 at 9:39 am
A judge can not be sued for actions done in his official funtion.
You can request that the court review the order and ask for it to be overturned.
http://www.precious-christian-dailydevotionals.com/the-lords-prayer.html
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