Raymond Carter v. City of Philadelphia et al.

Apr 28, 2009

OUTCOME: The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for trial. The Court held that the Philadelphia District Court was not a "state actor" for purposes of the 11th Amendment when acting in an administravtive role.

Mr. Carter was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The conviction rested on perjurious testimony of a paid police informant. Ten years after his con ... viction the perjury became known and Mr. Carter was released. He sued the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia District Attorney for violation of his civil rights; asserting against the DA that she had failed to train her subordinantes in the proper use and disclosure of paid informants. The DA argued that she was immune from suit in federal court as a state actor under the 11th Amendment to the US Constitution. The Distric Court dismissed her from the case on that ground and Carter appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals