Judicial immunity doesn’t protect a West Virginia family court judge from a lawsuit over her ordering and leading a warrantless search of a litigant’s home in a divorce dispute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit was told Monday.

Matthew Gibson is asking a panel to uphold an order that rejected immunity for Judge Louise Goldston for her actions at a March 2020 hearing. According to the lawsuit, Goldston abruptly stopped the hearing, where Gibson’s ex-wife claimed he still had her property, and directed both parties to meet at Gibson’s house. Goldston then led a half-hour search for the items while Gibson and a bailiff recorded some of the events.

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