James L. Perkins v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company

James L. Perkins brought an action for damages in the district court against a judge of the Probate Court of Talladega County, Alabama, 1 for alleged wrongful commitment to a state mental institution. The district court granted a de fense motion to dismiss on the grounds that the acts complained of constituted a judicial function rather than a ministerial function and therefore under Alabama law the probate judge was immune from civil liability. Broom v. Douglass, 175 Ala. 268, 57 So. 860 (1912). This appeal followed. We affirm.

Perkins alleged that on November 7, 1969, his wife filed in the…