Aaron Bressi v. Northumberland County Court

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Decided: August 9, 2024
• Docket: 24-1130
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________

No. 24-1130 __________

AARON J. BRESSI, Appellant

v.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COURT; SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA; SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA; JUDGE PAIGE ROSINI; DA ANTHONY MATULEWICZ; ADA ROBYN E. ZENZINGER; PROTHONOTARY JAMIE SALESKI; MARSHA SCOFF, Esq.; JOSEPH D. SELETYN, Esq.; JENNIFER TRAXLER, Esq.; CHIEF CLERK ELIZABETH E. ZISK; AMY DREIBELBIS, Esq. ____________________________________

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 4-22-cv-01878) District Judge: Honorable Malachy E. Mannion ____________________________________

Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) August 7, 2024 ___________

Before: KRAUSE, MATEY, and CHUNG, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: August 9, 2024) ___________

OPINION * ___________

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. PER CURIAM

Aaron J. Bressi is a Pennsylvania prisoner proceeding pro se. In November 2022,

he commenced this civil-rights action against the Pennsylvania courts presiding over his

post-conviction proceedings. He later added as defendants various judges, attorneys, and

court clerks. He claimed that the defendants had violated his due process rights and

committed “government negligence” by mishandling his pro se filings. The District

Court dismissed the amended complaint on the ground that the defendants were immune

from suit. Bressi appealed.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review over

the district court’s dismissal of this action based on immunity. See Dotzel v. Ashbridge,

438 F.3d 320, 324–25 (3d Cir. 2006).

We will affirm. The District Court correctly concluded that, based on the

allegations in the amended complaint, all twelve defendants were entitled to immunity.

Specifically, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania,

and the Northumberland County Court of Common Pleas are immune from suit under the

Eleventh Amendment, see Benn v. First Jud. Dist. of Pa., 426 F.3d 233, 239–41 (3d Cir.

2005); the Honorable Paige Rosini, a judge of the Northumberland County Court of

Common Pleas, is entitled to judicial immunity for the actions she took in her judicial

capacity, see Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 356–57 (1978); District Attorney

Anthony Matulewicz and Assistant District Attorney Robyn E. Zenziger are entitled to

absolute prosecutorial immunity for any work “intimately associated with the judicial

phase of the criminal process,” Fogle v. Sokol, 957 F.3d 148, 159–60 (3d Cir. 2020);

2 the state-court prothonotaries and deputy prothonotaries are entitled to quasi-judicial

immunity for claims relating to their handling of court filings, see Gallas v. Sup. Ct. of

Pa., 211 F.3d 760, 772 (3d Cir. 2000); and Marsha Skoff, who served as a hearing officer

for the Court of Common Pleas during Bressi’s protection-from-abuse proceedings, is

also entitled to quasi-judicial immunity, see id.

We have considered Bressi’s arguments on appeal and conclude that they are

meritless. Therefore, we will affirm.