In the late 1980s, Sheriff Tom Tate was involved in the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian for capital murder. Evidence revealed that Sheriff Tate withheld exculpatory information and generated false, inculpatory evidence, leading to McMillian’s nearly six-year incarceration on Death Row. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction in 1993, citing these violations. McMillian subsequently filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against Sheriff Tate and Monroe County, alleging constitutional rights violations. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that Sheriff Tate’s actions represented state policy, thereby granting him immunity from the lawsuit.
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