Robert F. Jennings v. Arthur Shuman, Jr., Robert J. Conway, Gustave Naring, and John Doe

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• finding that malicious abuse of process occurs when an officer uses the criminal process for a purpose other than it was intended and clearly establishing such acts as a constitutional violation
• “An abuse of process [i. e., the initiation of prosecution for an improper purpose] is by definition a denial of procedural due process”
• malicious prosecution same as malicious use of process but distinct from malicious abuse of process at common law in Pennsylvania
• plaintiff prosecuted for felony for purpose of extorting $150,000; constitutional deprivation resulted from deprivation of liberty concomitant to arrest and pendency of criminal proceedings
• “If the defendant . . . uses the threat of prosecution for purposes of extortion, this is malicious abuse” of process.
• absolute immunity applies even where a prosecutor is motivated by “a corrupt or illegal intention”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).