Prosecutor's Disclosure of Tax Records; of Section 6103 and Rule 6(e) (4/23/11)

In Lampton v. Diaz, 639 F.3d 223 (5th Cir. 2011), decided 4/18/11, the Fifth Circuit succinctly stated the issue addressed and holding in its opening paragraph:

In Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 430 (1976), the Court held that prosecutors retain common-law immunity from suit for all actions "intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process." This appeal raises the issue of whether that absolute immunity extends to a prosecutor's post-trial transfer of private federal tax records to a state ethics commission. Concluding that it does not, we affirm the denial of a motion to dismiss.

In order to understand the issues I want to discuss in this blog, it is important to have a clear fix on the facts. I will quote the Fifth Circuit's summary of the facts and procedural history, but the facts and procedural history are more nuanced. For more detail, see the district court's opinion, Lampton v. Diaz, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44738 (SD Miss. 2010). The Fifth Circuit's statement of facts is:
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