Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250 (2006)

In the 1980s, William G. Moore, Jr. was the chief executive of Recognition Equipment Inc. (REI), a company that developed a multiline optical character reader for sorting mail. REI had received substantial funding from the United States Postal Service (USPS) for this technology. However, the USPS was promoting a different approach, the Zip + 4 system, which relied on single-line scanning technology. Moore opposed this policy and actively lobbied against it, arguing that the USPS's reliance on single-line technology would lead to significant financial losses. His efforts included hiring a public relations firm and testifying before Congress. Despite his campaign, REI lost a major contract to a competitor, which led to investigations by Postal Service inspectors into alleged wrongdoing by Moore and REI. Following these investigations, an Assistant United States Attorney decided to prosecute Moore and REI, resulting in a grand jury indictment in 1988. However, after a lengthy trial, the District Court found a "complete lack of direct evidence" connecting Moore and REI to the alleged criminal activities. This case eventually escalated to the Supreme Court, where the central issue was whether a Bivens action for retaliation against Moore's speech could proceed without alleging the absence of probable cause for the underlying criminal charges. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that a lack of probable cause must be both alleged and proven for such a claim to be actionable.

Whether a Bivens action for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment requires the plaintiff to allege and prove the absence of probable cause for the underlying criminal charge.

The judgment is affirmed.