Crawford-El v. Britton - Significance, Other Opinions, Impact, Inmate Conditions

court petitioner john fitzgerald

Petitioner

Leonard Rollon Crawford-El

Respondent

Patricia Britton

Petitioner's Claim

That the district court's direct evidence rule and the appeals court's "clear and convincing evidence" standard for persons seeking to sue government officials should be rejected.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Daniel M. Schember

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

John M. Ferren

Justices for the Court

Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

4 May 1998

Decision

The Court rejected the court of appeals' "unprecedented" introduction of a new standard that plaintiffs must meet in order to bring suit against government officials, on the grounds that the change undermines the law providing remedies for violations of federal rights.

Related Cases

Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961).
Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731 (1982).
Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982).

Sources

Austin, James and John Irwin. It's About Time: America's Imprisonment Binge. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1994.

Crawford-El v. Britton - Significance

The ruling in this case attempted to strike a balance between a plaintiff's right to seek redress for alleged violations of federal rights by government employees, and government employees' need for protection against frivolous law suits. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals held in this case that the petitioner suit failed because he did not present "clear and convincing evidence" at the out…

Crawford-El v. Britton - Inmate Conditions

In the decade from 1985 to 1996, the total U.S. prison population grew from 744,208 to 1,630,940, a growth rate of 7.8 percent a year. Severe prison overcrowding had become a major problem throughout the nation by the mid-1990s. Factors contributing to overcrowded conditions included get-tough-on-crime laws and the "war on drugs." These initiatives led to the elimination of parole for certain crim…

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