ESCHBACH, Circuit Judge.
The primary question presented in this appeal is whether the doctrine of judicial immunity shields a state-court judge from liability for damages in a § 1983 action for alleged sex-based discrimination arising from the dismissal of a probation officer. The district court found that the defendant judge was immune. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm.
I
For the purposes of deciding this appeal, the facts may be summarized as follows:
Defendant Howard Lee White was at all times material to this dispute a Circuit Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of the State of Illinois and served as Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court in Jersey County, Illinois, which is the state trial court of general jurisdiction for that county. The Chief Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, or his designee, has the authority under Illinois law to hire and dismiss, at his, or his designee’s, pleasure, juvenile-court probation officers. Ill.Rev.Stat, ch. 37, ¶¶ 706-1, 706-5(1) (1983). Judge White was acting as the designee of the Chief Judge for the purposes of hiring and firing juvenile-court probation officers.
In April of 1977, Judge White hired plaintiff Cynthia Forrester to serve as a juvenile and adult probation officer and a director of court services for the Circuit Court. She worked under Judge White’s direct supervision until her termination. As an adult-probation officer,1 she prepared pre[649]*649sentencing reports in all felony cases for the judge to consider, monitored the actions of adults placed on probation, and filed recommendations for revocations as necessary. As a juvenile-probation officer,2 Forrester received and investigated complaints regarding status offenders, possible abuse and neglect cases, and juveniles charged with criminal conduct. After an investigation, she referred such cases to social agencies for treatment, provided counseling herself, or worked with the State’s Attorney in filing cases in juvenile court. When juvenile-court cases were filed, she assisted in preparing them for hearings; in addition, she made recommendations for disposition and prepared pre-sentencing reports for the judge to consider in deciding what should be done with the juvenile. When a juvenile was placed under court supervision or on probation, she monitored the juvenile to assure that he was complying with the [650]*650terms of court orders. When necessary, she recommended revocations.
Forrester performed these duties until July 1979. At that time, Jersey County received a grant from the State of Illinois to operate the Jersey County Juvenile Court Intake and Referral Services Project. The project was designed to divert juveniles from the court system by providing alternative methods of remedying their problems. When the project started, Judge White appointed Forrester the Project Supervisor and her duties increased commensurably. In this capacity, she was responsible for directing and supervising project staff members, establishing an office and new procedures, maintaining records, making reports, and ensuring that the program met federal and state requirements. She was also required to recruit advocate volunteer counselors to work with juveniles, contract with other social-services agencies, develop a community organization that would provide foster homes, and manage public relations. In addition, Forrester did a large portion of the work with juveniles under the grant project and continued to do juvenile probation work.
White discharged Forrester on October 1,1980. Forrester also claims that she was improperly demoted prior to her dismissal. We note that the parties presented evidence at trial relating to conflicts between Forrester and a male co-worker and to disputes between Forrester and Judge White regarding Forrester’s schedule. These facts, however, are not pertinent to the disposition of this appeal, because Forrester has alleged that she was discriminated against on the basis of her sex. Thus, in considering the propriety of the district court’s decision on judicial immunity, we must assume that Judge White demoted and dismissed Forrester on the basis of her sex. The disputes Forrester may have had with co-workers and Judge White are reasons for her demotion and termination that are not related to her sex, and will not be considered.
In July 1982, Forrester filed an action in federal district court and sought recovery under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. The procedural history of this litigation is rather involved; much of what transpired below is not relevant to the judicial-immunity question and will not be discussed. Suffice it to say that Forrester pursues on appeal only her § 1983 claim, in which she alleged that she was demoted and terminated by Judge White on the basis of her sex in violation of the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Although she initially sought both equitable and monetary relief, only her claim for damages remains on appeal.
The § 1983 claim was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict for Forrester and awarded approximately $82,000 in compensatory damages. The district court denied Judge White’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, but granted his motion for a new trial. Judge White then filed a motion for summary judgment in which he argued that he was entitled to absolute immunity from a civil-damage award. The district court agreed and entered judgment in favor of the defendant. Forrester now appeals.3
II
In deciding whether the district court correctly ruled in Judge White’s favor, we must first consider the general principles behind the immunity defense. Courts in this country and in England have embraced the doctrine of judicial immunity for centuries.4 The Supreme Court first articulated the current doctrine in Bradley [651]*651v. Fisher, 80 U.S. (18 Wall.) 335, 20 L.Ed. 646 (1872), in which it ruled that, in order to safeguard principled and independent decision-making, a judge may not be held to answer in civil damages for those “judicial acts” committed in the exercise of his “jurisdiction.”5 See also Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978); Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967). The defense does not simply shield judges from civil liability, but also from the related trial proceedings. Mitchell v. Forsyth, — U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2816, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985).6 It will not, however, protect a judge from injunctive relief, see Pulliam v. Allen, 466 U.S. 522, 541-42,104 S.Ct. 1970, 1981, 80 L.Ed.2d 565 (1984), or from criminal prosecution, see O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 503, 94 S.Ct. 669, 680, 38 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974); Ex parte Virginia, 100 U.S. (10 Otto) 339, 25 L.Ed. 676 (1879). In addition, judicial immunity is a creature solely of the common law.7 However, although it had the constitutional authority to do so, Congress did not abrogate the defense in enacting § 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, now codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Pierson, 386 U.S. at 554-55, 87 S.Ct. at 1217-18.8
The scope of the defense will be construed broadly to effectuate its purposes, Dykes v. Hosemann, 776 F.2d 942, 947 (11th Cir.1985) (en banc) (per curiam), and when it applies, it is absolute and does not depend on the motives of the judge; thus, it is available even if the judge is accused of acting maliciously or corruptly. Bradley, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at 351; see also Pierson, 386 U.S. at 554, 87 S.Ct. at 1218. It must be remembered, however, that it is for the benefit of the public, not corrupt judges. Pulliam, 466 U.S. at 532, 104 S.Ct. at 1976; Bradley, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at 350. As Judge Learned Hand explained in Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579 (2d Cir.1949), cert. denied, 339 U.S. 949, 70 S.Ct. 803, 94 L.Ed. 1363 (1950):
It does indeed go without saying that an official, who is in fact guilty of using his powers to vent his spleen upon others, or for any other personal motive not connected with the public good, should not escape liability for the injuries he may so cause; and, if it were possible in practice to confine such complaints to the guilty, it would be monstrous to deny recovery. The justification for doing so is that it is impossible to know whether the claim is well founded until the case has been tried, and that to submit all officials, the innocent as well as the guilty, to the burden of a trial and to the inevitable danger of its outcome, would dampen the ardor of all but the most resolute, or the most irresponsible, in the unflinching discharge of their duties. Again and again the public interest calls for action which may turn out to be founded on a mistake, in the face of [652]*652which an official may later find himself hard put to it to satisfy a jury of his good faith. There must indeed be means of punishing public officers who have been truant to their duties; but that is quite another matter from exposing such as have been honestly mistaken to suit by anyone who has suffered from their errors. As is so often the case, the answer must be found in a balance between the evils inevitable in either alternative. In this instance it has been thought in the end better to leave unredressed the wrongs done by dishonest officers than to subject those who try to do their duty to the constant dread of retaliation.
177 F.2d at 581 (emphasis added). See also McCray v. Maryland, 456 F.2d 1, 3 (4th Cir.1972). Thus, the effect of the doctrine may be at times harsh in the individual case, Stump, 435 U.S. at 363, 98 S.Ct. at 1108, because conflicting interests define the scope of the immunity. The defense presents a tension between the general and the particular, and demonstrates that, in order to safeguard the judicial system generally, some instances of injustice are, unfortunately, inevitable. See id.; cf. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976); Stephens v. Heckler, 766 F.2d 284, 287-88 (7th Cir.1985).
The Supreme Court in Bradley identified five considerations in support of judicial immunity. First, a judge must be able to act on his own convictions without apprehension of personal consequences. Second, because litigation necessarily involves controversy and competing interests, losing parties are quick to ascribe malevolent motives to a judge. Third, because of the ease of alleging bad faith, a qualified “good faith” immunity would be virtually worthless to secure the desideratum of an independent judiciary. Fourth, the prospect of defending civil-damage actions and satisfying judgments would force judges to employ wasteful and distracting devices, such as unnecessarily meticulous record-keeping, to guard against liability and would render judges less inclined to rule forthrightly. Finally, other safeguards, such as appeal and impeachment, reduce the need for private rights of action for damages against judges. See Bradley, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at 347-54. To these considerations, one should add a sixth: the need to assure quiescence and finality of judgment by reducing the number of possible collateral challenges to judicial decisions. See Holloway v. Walker, 765 F.2d 517, 522 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 106 S.Ct. 605, 88 L.Ed.2d 583 (1985).
Of course, if the concerns articulated in Bradley in favor of immunity were the only ones we should consider, then there would be no countervailing force and immunity should expand to cover all aspects of a judge’s life, professional and private. It is undoubtedly vexing for a judge to be named as a defendant in litigation arising out of, for example, an automobile accident or a domestic dispute; thus, immunity would reach these aggravations so that a judge might rule without distraction on the cases before him. However, we must take into account the cost of dismissing meritorious complaints against judicial officers. The case law has drawn a line between those activities implicating the substance of the judge’s decision in the cases before him and those that may consume the judge’s time, energy, and money, but should not influence the substance of those decisions. See, e.g., Harris v. Harvey, 605 F.2d 330, 336 (7th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 938, 100 S.Ct. 1331, 63 L.Ed.2d 772 (1980); Gregory v. Thompson, 500 F.2d 59 (9th Cir.1974). In sum, immunity does not shield judges from the trials of life generally-
As the discussion above suggests, it is the nature of the act committed (that is, the relation it has to the process of adjudication), not the identity of the actor who commits it, that determines whether immunity applies. See Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union, 446 U.S. 719, 100 S.Ct. 1967, 64 L.Ed.2d 641 (1980); Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978); Stump, 435 U.S. at 362, 98 S.Ct. at 1107. Using this functional test, the courts have extended absolute immunity to participants (other than judges) [653]*653in the judicial process and to officials (other than judges) who carry out “quasi-judicial” functions. The Supreme Court has, for example, granted absolute immunity to federal hearing examiners, administrative law judges, grand jurors, witnesses, and federal and state prosecutors. See Cleavinger v. Saxner, — U.S. —, —, 106 S.Ct. 496, 500, 88 L.Ed.2d 507 (1985). This court has provided immunity to similarly situated defendants. See, e.g., Scott v. Schmidt, 773 F.2d 160 (7th Cir.1985) (harness racing counsel); Mother Goose Nursery Schools, Inc. v. Sendak, 770 F.2d 668 (7th Cir.1985) (state attorney general when reviewing contracts on behalf of state), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 106 S.Ct. 884, 88 L.Ed.2d 919 (1986); Trotter v. Klincar, 748 F.2d 1177 (7th Cir.1984) (parole board); Reed v. Village of Shorewood, 704 F.2d 943 (7th Cir. 1983) (liquor commission); Ashbrook v. Hoffman, 617 F.2d 474 (7th Cir.1980) (state partition commission).
At times the courts have relied on the presence of other controls on judicial action, such as the availability and scope of appellate review, in determining whether to allow the defense. See, e.g., Cleavinger, — U.S. at-, 106 S.Ct. at 503-04 (1985); Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978). However, the full array of alternative procedural safeguards is not a prerequisite to the grant of immunity. See Stump, 435 U.S. at 368-69, 98 S.Ct. at 1111 (Stewart, J., dissenting); Mother Goose, 770 F.2d at 675 n. 6; Reed, 704 F.2d at 952. In addition, it has been clear since Bradley that an official does not have to serve under terms similar to those of Article III (that is, by appointment with life tenure and no reduction in compensation) in order to invoke the defense. Indeed, as noted above, absolute immunity has been extended to prosecutors and to grand-jury members, even though both exercise their authority subject to little review and do not enjoy the independence of federal judges. By the same token, no one could reasonably argue that the Justices of the United States Supreme Court are not entitled to absolute judicial immunity, see Moore v. Burger, 655 F.2d 1265 (D.C.Cir. 1981), even though their decisions are not subject to review by a superior tribunal. One must at times rely on devices other than Article III and direct appellate review to control judicial action. Cf. Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 757-58 & n. 39, 102 S.Ct. 2690, 2705 & n. 39, 73 L.Ed.2d 349 (1982).
Thus, the decision to allow the defense of judicial immunity in a particular case calls for a balancing of these competing concerns. Dennis v. Sparks, 449 U.S. 24, 31-32, 101 S.Ct. 183, 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 185 (1980); Dykes, 776 F.2d at 942; Gregory, 500 F.2d at 63 n. 4. The terms “judicial act” and “jurisdiction” are not self-evident, and only signal the conclusion, rather than the beginning, of a chain of inferences. The characterization given an act depends on the weight of the interests at stake. For certain acts, however, such as the rendering of a judgment, the balance is straight-forward and the law, therefore, settled. See, e.g., Lowe v. Letsinger, 772 F.2d 308, 312 (7th Cir.1985). For other acts, a critical evaluation of the concerns underlying the defense is required.
It is not surprising that the plaintiffs in the majority of suits against judicial officers in which the immunity doctrine is successfully invoked are either actual litigants or (as in Stump) individuals with an interest in the litigation. In these cases, the concerns of Bradley and its progeny are implicated without question. There is another line of cases, however, in which a former employee of a judge brings suit challenging his dismissal. As we will explain below, the rationale of decisions involving disgruntled litigants is not necessarily applicable to those involving former judicial employees.
The federal courts disagree on the scope of the immunity defense for decisions regarding judicial personnel. See Goodwin v. Circuit Court, 729 F.2d 541, 548-49 (8th Cir.) (judge’s transfer of hearing officer was administrative, not judicial, decision; thus judge not absolutely immune), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 105 S.Ct. 112, 83 L.Ed.2d 55 (1984) and — U.S. —, 105 [654]*654S.Ct. 1194, 84 L.Ed.2d 339 (1985); Laskowski v. Mears, 600 F.Supp. 1568 (N.D.Ind. 1985) (if relationship with probation officer implicates judge’s independence, then dismissal is judicial act); Cronovich v. Dunn, 573 F.Supp. 1340, 1342 (E.D.Mich.1983) (scope of immunity for judges’ personnel decision unclear), Id., 573 F.Supp. 1330, 1335 (E.D.Mich.1983) (failure to appoint plaintiff as Friend of Court not judicial act); Blackwell v. Cook, 570 F.Supp. 474 (N.D.Ind.1983) (judge absolutely immune in § 1983 suit challenging dismissal of family counselor for county probation office); Lewis v. Blackburn, 555 F.Supp. 713 (W.D. N.C.1983) (decision by state judge not to reappoint magistrate not judicial act), rev’d on other grounds, 759 F.2d 1171 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 106 S.Ct. 228, 88 L.Ed.2d 288 (1985); Marafino v. St. Louis County Circuit Court, 537 F.Supp. 206 (E.D.Mo.1982) (plaintiff who sought position as juvenile-court staff attorney could invoke Title VII in action for discriminatory refusal to hire because staff attorney does not deal with judge in latter’s judicial capacity), aff'd on other grounds, 707 F.2d 1005 (8th Cir.1983); Pruitt v. Kimbrough, 536 F.Supp. 764 (N.D.Ind.1982) (state judge immune from damages for dismissal of probation officer), affd mem., 705 F.2d 462 (7th Cir.1983); Clark v. Campbell, 514 F.Supp. 1300 (W.D. Ark. 1981) (county judge, in hiring and firing county employees, not performing judicial function); Shore v. Howard, 414 F.Supp. 379 (N.D. Tex.1976) (state judge’s dismissal of probation officer not judicial act); cf. Abbott v. Thetford, 534 F.2d 1101 (5th Cir.1976) (en banc) (under balancing test of Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968), judicial officer not liable in civil-rights action challenging discharge of chief probation officer), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 954, 97 S.Ct. 1598, 51 L.Ed.2d 804 (1977). This uncertainty in the case law is understandable, because decisions regarding court personnel depart from the paradigm of Bradley and its progeny. However, that does not mean that immunity is not available. It is, for example, of fundamental importance that the modern judge differs from his predecessor in that he must rely more on his staff for advice on substantive decisions, and that certain research functions formerly performed by the judge are now accomplished in part by his staff. A judge’s institutional personality, therefore, extends beyond his person. Thus, suits brought by former court personnel may have a powerful, albeit indirect, effect on the rights of litigants. The dispositive question in a particular case is whether that effect bears an appropriate relationship to the judicial process, and hence warrants a grant of immunity.
We pause for a moment to consider the scope of immunity applicable to the personnel decisions of nonjudicial officials. Although the immunity accorded these individuals is not necessarily controlling in the case before us, it may provide strong support for our ruling, if that immunity is shaped and informed by a similar rationale. In Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 102 S.Ct. 2690, 73 L.Ed.2d 349 (1982), for example, the Supreme Court held that the President was absolutely immune from suits based on his personnel decisions. The Court also noted in a related action, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 811-13,102 S.Ct. 2727, 2735-36, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982), that presidential aides might, under certain circumstances, enjoy the same immunity for these decisions.
With reference to legislators, the Court has not provided a definitive ruling. In Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 99 S.Ct. 2264, 60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979), a former congressional staff member alleged that a United States Congressman had, in violation of the Fifth Amendment, discriminated on the basis of sex in terminating her. The Court concluded that the plaintiff was asserting a constitutionally protected right, that her complaint stated a case of action, and that damages were the appropriate remedy. Nonetheless, it was at pains to point out that, while upholding the complaint, it expressed no opinion on the possible immunity defenses of the defendant Congressman. See 442 U.S. at 236 n. 11, [655]*655246 n. 25, 249, 99 S.Ct. at 2272 n. 11, 2278 n. 25, 2279. Cf. Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 397-98, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 2005, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971) (ruling on immunity reserved).
In Browning v. Clerk, 789 F.2d 923 (D.C. Cir.1986), the District of Columbia Circuit addressed the question left unanswered in Davis. In Browning, the former Official Reporter of the United States House of Representatives brought a civil-rights action in which she alleged that her termination was motivated by a racial animus. The court, in holding that the Speech or Debate Clause provided the defendants, members of the United States House of Representatives, with absolute immunity for this personnel decision, stated:
The touchstone in determining whether the Speech or Debate Clause immunity attaches is whether the activities at issue were “an integral part of the deliberative and communicative processes [of Congress],” ... such that the activity is legislative in character. Personnel decisions are an integral part of the legislative process____ Thus, if the employee’s duties are an integral part of the legislative process, such that they are directly assisting members of Congress in the “discharge of their functions,” personnel decisions affecting them are correspondingly legislative and shielded from judicial scrutiny.
789 F.2d at 928-29 (citations omitted). The court found that the plaintiff’s duties were directly related to the “due functioning of the legislative process,” so that the decision to discharge her was legislative in nature and, thus, immunized by the Clause. Similarly, the First Circuit held in Agromayer v. Colberg, 738 F.2d 55 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 105 S.Ct. 515, 83 L.Ed.2d 405 (1984), that the defendant, the President of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, had absolute legislative immunity under the common law in an action challenging his refusal to hire the plaintiff to serve as a press officer. See also Hudson v. Burke, 617 F.Supp. 1501 (N.D.Ill.1985); cf. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(f); Clark v. Tarrant County, 608 F.Supp. 209, 212-14 (N.D.Tex.1985).
Thus, far from placing the judicial branch above the executive and legislative branches, a decision today in favor of the defendant would do no more than extend to the judiciary the immunity from civil damages arising out of certain personnel decisions that is already enjoyed by the coordinate branches. Separation-of-powers concerns are, of course, a component of the judicial decisions relating to the personnel actions of the federal executive and legislative branches (and might result in a more comprehensive immunity for those branches than that accorded the judiciary). By the same token, questions of comity and federalism are raised in federal suits against state officials. In any event, the unifying rationale is that, if an employee’s duties are intimately related to the functioning of the particular process (whether executive, legislative, or judicial on either the federal or state level), then personnel decisions regarding that employee are also part of the process.
We turn now to the facts of this case. The plaintiff alleges that she was discharged on the basis of her sex. The first question usually addressed in deciding whether a judge may invoke the defense of judicial immunity is whether he was acting within his “jurisdiction.” See Stump, 435 U.S. at 356, 98 S.Ct. at 1104-05. As noted earlier, this is not a self-defining term. In the case of a disgruntled litigant, the question is whether the judge had jurisdiction over the subject matter of the dispute. Id.; Dykes, 776 F.2d at 945-50. It is clear, nonetheless, that a judge may be acting within his jurisdiction outside, as well as inside, the courtroom. See, e.g., Lopez v. Vanderwater, 620 F.2d 1229, 1234 (7th Cir.), cert. dismissed, 449 U.S. 1028, 101 S.Ct. 601, 66 L.Ed.2d 491 (1980).
The plaintiff’s claim in the instant case, however, did not arise directly out of litigation before the court, so the question of subject-matter jurisdiction makes little sense. Still, that does not foreclose the defense in this case, because we believe that the more general concern articulated [656]*656in Bradley and its progeny is whether the judge was acting within the scope of his “authority.” It has been clear since the doctrine’s inception that, if a judicial officer is acting in a clear absence of power, immunity will not spare him from the consequences of his acts. See Bradley, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at 352; see also Gregory, 500 F.2d 59. This is the only aspect of the doctrine that has anything resembling a “good faith” component. In the case of litigants, subject-matter jurisdiction defines the specific scope of that general authority. In the context of the dismissal of a staff member, it is our opinion that the threshold question is this: was the judge authorized to discharge the plaintiff? The answer in this case is an unqualified yes. In fact, under Illinois law, judges alone are authorized to dismiss juvenile-probation officers.
The more difficult question, of course, is whether the dismissal of the plaintiff was a “judicial act.” Again, this is not a self-defining term. It is too much to say that judicial acts are those things that judges do. Such a definition is not only circular, but also results in an unnecessary extension of the immunity doctrine, because it would shield a judge from personnel actions unrelated to the decisional process. An example would be the refusal to hire an individual to serve as a janitor. The reasons supporting judicial immunity are not properly implicated in such a case, even though a judge’s apprehension of the possibility of a civil-damage action arising out of the refusal to hire a janitor may affect his mood and distract him from the tasks at hand (and, therefore, affect the rights of the litigants before him). As noted above, it cannot be the idiosyncracies of a particular judge, or even those of human nature generally, that warrant the application of judicial immunity. Rather, the critical inquiry is whether the person affected by the judge’s acts stands in such a relationship to the judicial system as would make immunity appropriate in light of the concerns expressed above. A janitor is not required to provide a judge with advice and information concerning pending cases. Thus, judicial immunity would not protect the judge who refuses to hire an individual to be a janitor.9
The Supreme Court in Stump developed a two-part test to determine whether a judicial act was at issue. Although articulated in an action brought by a party involved in litigation before the defendant judge, this test addresses the general concerns behind the defense, and there is no reason why it should not apply in the instant case. First, was the function one normally performed by a judge? Second, was the plaintiff dealing with the judge in his judicial capacity? 435 U.S. at 362, 98 S.Ct. at 1107. The answer to the first prong of the inquiry was adumbrated above: under Illinois law, only a judge may order the dismissal of the plaintiff; thus, this function is “normally performed by a judge.”
The second prong is troublesome. It is true that judges are protected only when they are acting as “judges,” not as administrators.10 However, saying that something is an administrative act, as opposed to a judicial one, simply states the conclusion. Certain decisions made by judges [657]*657outside the courtroom may be administrative in one setting and judicial in another. There is a substantial overlap between the two, and the characterization cannot be made without reference to the purposes for immunity.
State law often provides an answer. As suggested above, it may determine, for example, who is in fact a “judge.” However, while state law may conclusively determine when a judge is not entitled to immunity, see, e.g., Clark v. Campbell, 514 F.Supp. 1300 (W.D.Ark.1981), it does not always determine when a judge is entitled to immunity, because a state may assign a task to a judge for reasons unrelated to safeguarding principled and independent decision-making.
The assignment under Illinois law to judges of supervision over probation officers is, we believe, directly related to the principles underlying the defense of immunity. There is no question that, in her capacity as a probation officer, the plaintiff was dealing with the defendant in the latter’s capacity as a judge. She was rendering advice and recommendations for dispositions to be made by the judge, and the information she provided directly implicated the exercise of the judge’s discretionary judgment. See Abbott, 534 F.2d 1101; Pruitt, 536 F.Supp. 764. Decisions regarding, for example, sentencing, probation, and the revocation of parole and probation are unquestionably judicial acts, and the plaintiff provided crucial advice and information necessary to making those decisions. Her relationship was by necessity founded on confidence and confidentiality. These attributes of the position are the primary reasons that probation officers themselves have derivative absolute immunity. See Spaulding v. Nielsen, 599 F.2d 728 (5th Cir.1979) (probation officer immune from damages for alleged misconduct in investigation and preparation of pre-sentence report); Burkes v. Callion, 433 F.2d 318 (9th Cir.1970) (probation officer has derivative judicial immunity), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 908, 91 S.Ct. 2217, 29 L.Ed.2d 685 (1971); Blackwell, 570 F.Supp. at 478-79 (immunity of probation officers); Richardson v. Grundel, 85 Ill.App.3d 46, 40 Ill.Dec. 569, 406 N.E.2d 575 (1980) (immunity of probation officer under Illinois law); see also Scott v. Dixon, 720 F.2d 1542 (11th Cir.1983) (immunity of court clerk), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 105 S.Ct. 122, 83 L.Ed.2d 64 (1984); Briscoe v. Lahue, 663 F.2d 713, 722 (7th Cir.1981) (immunity of court reporter), affd on other grounds, 460 U.S. 325, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983); Dieu v. Norton, 411 F.2d 761 (7th Cir.1969) (immunity of court clerk and reporter).11
The fact that the functions performed by the plaintiff as a probation officer were inextricably tied to discretionary decisions that have consistently been considered judicial acts is the fundamental factor to consider in deciding whether the defendant was acting in a judicial capacity when he demoted and terminated the plaintiff. See Lewis, 555 F.Supp. 713; Marajino, 537 F.Supp. 206; Pruitt, 536 F.Supp. 764. We stress, however, that the nature of this relationship depends on the facts of each case. We cannot set forth a general rule, because the interaction between the judge and the members of his staff does not always appropriately implicate the decisions of the judge qua judge. See Goodwin, 729 F.2d at 548-49 (relationship between judge and hearing officer too distant to implicate substance of judge’s decisions). Each court system differs in the manner in which it allocates responsibility to court personnel. However, because the employment relationship at issue here was dominated by acts that were unquestionably taken in the defendant’s judicial capacity within the meaning of Bradley, Stump, and their progeny, the contested actions of the defendant in demoting and dismissing [658]*658the plaintiff would affect his ability to act in a principled and independent manner in his role as a judge if he could not undertake those actions without the protection of the defense. We conclude, therefore, that he is entitled to absolute immunity from civil damages in this case.
The evil to be avoided is the following: A judge loses confidence in his probation officer, but hesitates to fire him because of the threat of litigation. He then retains the officer, in which case the parties appearing before the court are the victims, because the quality of the judge’s decision-making will decline. In this case, four of the five factors discussed in Bradley are directly implicated. First, the judge will not be able to act on his convictions in deciding cases, because he will not have the aid of a probation officer in whom he has trust and confidence. Second, he will be driven to wasteful self-protective devices. Third, alternative safeguards, such as impeachment, censure, equitable and declaratory relief, and market forces, reduce the need for a private damage action. Finally, the ease of alleging bad faith in the demotion and dismissal renders good-faith immunity virtually worthless. The judge may also be open to suits from litigants who discover that his professional relationship with his probation officer has declined, and he may thus expose himself to charges of impropriety and lose the respect necessary for the effective discharge of his responsibilities.
One could say a conscientious judge would act on his convictions and discharge the employee, but this is an argument against immunity in its entirety. The defense reflects a general recognition that, by his elevation to the bench, a judge cannot always rise above the frailties he shares with those individuals the propriety of whose conduct he is now called upon to judge. If similarly situated litigants were always similarly judged, perfect procedural justice would obtain. This, however, is not the world in which we find ourselves. Doctrines such as judicial immunity are needed to promote the effective administration of our legal system, and in attempting to fashion a system of “justice for all” we cannot guarantee justice for each. The meritorious claims of some who are adversely affected by improper judicial decisions are swept aside with the meritless ones. The tribute thereby exacted is a consequence of having human acts judged by human actors.
The defense, however, will not protect a judge from his intemperate acts in every instance. Only when his conduct occurs in a context in which even the properly motivated judge would be reluctant to act without protection from a civil-damage action and when that reluctance would undermine the integrity of the general process of judicial administration is immunity appropriate. This is such a case.
To summarize, we hold that the defendant’s decisions to demote and dismiss the plaintiff were judicial acts performed within the scope of his authority. He is then, under the facts of this case, entitled to the defense of judicial immunity. We, of course, express no opinion on other decisions relating to Judge White’s staff or even to probation officers in a different court system, because it must be determined in each case that the grant of immunity advances the policies behind it. We have, as we must, addressed only the facts of the case before us.
Ill
For the reasons stated above, the judgment of the district court is Affirmed.