PUBLISHED:May 21, 2010

Appellate Litigation Clinic matter withstands judicial review by Supreme Court

On May 17 the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by a federal prosecutor seeking review of a D.C. Circuit case successfully handled by Duke's Appellate Litigation Clinic.

The appeal, Zachem v. Atherton, involved the doctrine of absolute immunity for prosecutors and quasi-judicial officials, as well as an assertion of a constitutionally protected interest in grand jury service. The appeal was handled by a student team, working under the supervision of appellate clinic directors James E. Coleman Jr. and Sean E. Andrussier. Sarah Campbell, James McDonald, Eugenie Montague, and Emily Sauter, all members of the Class of 2009, comprised the student team. Campbell argued the case in the D.C. Circuit.

» Read more about the Supreme Court's refusal to stop the case from going forward