Immunity Rulings Need Quick Appeals, GEO Group Tells Justices

Court orders blocking defendants from using their government contracts to halt lawsuits should be immediately appealable to avoid losing the benefit of that immunity, GEO Group Inc. told the US Supreme Court.

The high court “should vindicate contractors’ long-standing immunity for work performed according to the government’s directions” and allow collateral-order appeals when derivative sovereign immunity is denied, the private prison operator’s Thursday brief said.

The justices agreed to take the case after an appellate panel said it was too early to review a ruling blocking GEO from using immunity to shut down immigrant detainees’ human trafficking claims.

A group ...