Flavia Pichiorri v. Arthur Burghes -Southern District of Ohio at Columbus
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
The case concerns Dr. Flavia Pichiorri’s § 1983 challenge to Ohio State University officials for allegedly defamatory disclosures of a research-misconduct report. The Sixth Circuit held that sovereign immunity barred most claims and that the remaining procedural- and substantive-due-process claims failed on the merits, affirming dismissal of the complaint.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a federal court must decide a State’s sovereign-immunity defense before reaching the merits, or may bypass the immunity question and decide the merits first when doing so is easier or when the State affirmatively prefers a merits ruling.
Circuit Positions
Sovereign immunity is jurisdictional; courts must decide immunity before the merits.
Courts have discretion to reach the merits before immunity if doing so is easier or the State prefers it.
Conflict Summary
Several circuits—including the Sixth—treat state sovereign immunity as a non-waivable jurisdictional bar that must be resolved before any merits ruling. Other circuits hold that a court may reach the merits first if it is more straightforward or if the State waives the order-of-battle requirement. The opinion notes this disagreement and, consistent with prior Sixth Circuit precedent, assumes immunity must be decided first.