Thompson v. Clark, (2022), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning whether a plaintiff suing for malicious prosecution must show that he or she was affirmatively exonerated of committing the alleged crime. The Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh held that no such requirement existed and that a plaintiff suing for malicious prosecution in the context of a Fourth Amendment "need only show that his prosecution ended without a conviction." Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch. Media coverage of the decision portrayed the Court's ruling as a victory for civil rights lawsuits.
Background.
Larry Thompson, a Navy veteran and postal worker, lived with his fiancée and newborn daughter in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. When Thompson's daughter was one week old, his sister-in-law called 911 and accused Thompson of sexually abusing the child. Four police officers were dispatched to Thompson's house to investigate but Thompson refused to let them in without a search warrant. In response, the four officers forced their way into Thompson's home and attempted to restrain Thompson. Thompson resisted, was taken into custody for two days, and was subsequently charged with resisting arrest. Further investigation by law enforcement revealed no signs of child abuse. Rather than prosecute Thompson for resisting arrest, the prosecution opted to dismiss the charges. Neither the prosecutor nor the judge offered any explanation as to why the charges were dismissed.
Following the dismissal of his criminal charges, Thompson filed suit against the officers responsible for arresting him under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and alleging, among other things, that he had been maliciously prosecuted in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, which provided the right against unlawful seizures. Thompson's claims were dismissed at the trial level and his appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was similarly denied as both courts held that, under existing precedent, Thompson was required to show that he had been affirmatively found innocent of committing the underlying crime. On November 6, 2020, Thompson filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, which was granted on March 8, 2021. During the October 12, 2021, oral argument, the justices posed a series of hypotheticals involving the fictional character of Jean Valjean and the mythological centaur.
