Pearson v. Callahan

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2008 1

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is

being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.

The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been

prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.

See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

PEARSON ET AL. v. CALLAHAN

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR

THE TENTH CIRCUIT

No. 07–751. Argued October 14, 2008—Decided January 21, 2009

After the Utah Court of Appeals vacated respondent’s conviction for

possession and distribution of drugs, which he sold to an undercover

informant he had voluntarily admitted into his house, he brought

this 42 U. S. C. §1983 damages action in federal court, alleging that

petitioners, the officers who supervised and conducted the war

rantless search of the premises that led to his arrest after the sale,

had violated the Fourth Amendment. The District Court granted

summary judgment in favor of the officers. Noting that other courts

had adopted the “consent-once-removed” doctrine—which permits a

warrantless police entry into a home when consent to enter has al

ready been granted to an undercover officer who has observed con

traband in plain view—the court concluded that the officers were en

titled to qualified immunity because they could reasonably have

believed that the doctrine authorized their conduct. Following the

procedure mandated in Saucier v. Katz, 533 U. S. 194, the Tenth Cir

cuit held that petitioners were not entitled to qualified immunity.

The court disapproved broadening the consent-once-removed doctrine

to situations in which the person granted initial consent was not an

undercover officer, but merely an informant. It further held that the

Fourth Amendment right to be free in one’s home from unreasonable

searches and arrests was clearly established at the time of respon

dent’s arrest, and determined that, under this Court’s clearly estab

lished precedents, warrantless entries into a home are per se unrea

sonable unless they satisfy one of the two established exceptions for

consent and exigent circumstances. The court concluded that peti

tioners could not reasonably have believed that their conduct was

lawful because they knew that (1) they had no warrant; (2) respon

dent had not consented to their entry; and (3) his consent to the entry

2 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Syllabus

of an informant could not reasonably be interpreted to extend to

them. In granting certiorari, this Court directed the parties to ad

dress whether Saucier should be overruled in light of widespread

criticism directed at it.

Held:

1. The Saucier procedure should not be regarded as an inflexible

requirement. Pp. 5–19.

(a) Saucier mandated, see 533 U. S., at 194, a two-step sequence

for resolving government officials’ qualified immunity claims: A court

must decide (1) whether the facts alleged or shown by the plaintiff

make out a violation of a constitutional right, and (2) if so, whether

that right was “clearly established” at the time of the defendant’s al

leged misconduct, id., at 201. Qualified immunity applies unless the

official's conduct violated such a right. Anderson v. Creighton, 483

U. S. 635, 640. Pp. 5–7.

(b) Stare decisis does not prevent this Court from determining

whether the Saucier procedure should be modified or abandoned.

Revisiting precedent is particularly appropriate where, as here, a de

parture would not upset settled expectations, see, e.g., United States

v. Gaudin, 515 U. S. 506, 521; the precedent consists of a rule that is

judge-made and adopted to improve court operations, not a statute

promulgated by Congress, see, e.g., State Oil Co. v. Khan, 522 U. S. 3,

20; and the precedent has “been questioned by Members of th[is]

Court in later decisions, and [has] defied consistent application by

the lower courts,” Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U. S. 808, 829–830. Re

spondent’s argument that Saucier should not be reconsidered unless

the Court concludes that it was “badly reasoned” or that its rule has

proved “unworkable,” see Payne, supra, at 827, is rejected. Those

standards are out of place in the present context, where a consider

able body of new experience supports a determination that a manda

tory, two-step rule for resolving all qualified immunity claims should

not be retained. Pp. 7–10.

(c) Reconsideration of the Saucier procedure demonstrates that,

while the sequence set forth therein is often appropriate, it should no

longer be regarded as mandatory in all cases. Pp. 10–19.

(i) The Court continues to recognize that the Saucier protocol is

often beneficial. In some cases, a discussion of why the relevant facts

do not violate clearly established law may make it apparent that in

fact the relevant facts do not make out a constitutional violation at

all. And Saucier was correct in noting that the two-step procedure

promotes the development of constitutional precedent and is espe

cially valuable for questions that do not frequently arise in cases in

which a qualified immunity defense is unavailable. See 533 U. S., at

194. Pp. 10–11.

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

Syllabus

(ii) Nevertheless, experience in this Court and the lower fed

eral courts has pointed out the rigid Saucier procedure’s shortcom

ings. For example, it may result in a substantial expenditure of

scarce judicial resources on difficult questions that have no effect on

the case’s outcome, and waste the parties’ resources by forcing them

to assume the costs of litigating constitutional questions and endure

delays attributable to resolving those questions when the suit other

wise could be disposed of more readily. Moreover, although the

procedure’s first prong is intended to further the development of

constitutional precedent, opinions following that procedure often fail

to make a meaningful contribution to such development. Further,

when qualified immunity is asserted at the pleading stage, the

answer to whether there was a violation may depend on a kalei

doscope of facts not yet fully developed. And the first step may create

a risk of bad decisionmaking, as where the briefing of constitutional

questions is woefully inadequate. Application of the Saucier rule also

may make it hard for affected parties to obtain appellate review of

constitutional decisions having a serious prospective effect on their

operations. For example, where a court holds that a defendant has

committed a constitutional violation, but then holds that the viola

tion was not clearly established, the defendant, as the winning party,

may have his right to appeal the adverse constitutional holding chal

lenged. Because rigid adherence to Saucier departs from the general

rule of constitutional avoidance, cf., e.g., Scott v. Harris, 550 U. S.

372, 388, the Court may appropriately decline to mandate the order

of decision that the lower courts must follow, see, e.g., Strickland v.

Washington, 466 U. S. 668, 697. This flexibility properly reflects the

Court’s respect for the lower federal courts. Because the two-step

Saucier procedure is often, but not always, advantageous, those

judges are in the best position to determine the order of decisionmak

ing that will best facilitate the fair and efficient disposition of each

case. Pp. 11–17.

(iii) Misgivings concerning today’s decision are unwarranted.

It does not prevent the lower courts from following Saucier; it simply

recognizes that they should have the discretion to decide whether

that procedure is worthwhile in particular cases. Moreover, it will

not retard the development of constitutional law, result in a prolif

eration of damages claims against local governments, or spawn new

litigation over the standards for deciding whether to reach the par

ticular case’s merits. Pp. 17–19.

2. Petitioners are entitled to qualified immunity because it was not

clearly established at the time of the search that their conduct was

unconstitutional. When the entry occurred, the consent-once

4 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Syllabus

removed doctrine had been accepted by two State Supreme Courts

and three Federal Courts of Appeals, and not one of the latter had is

sued a contrary decision. Petitioners were entitled to rely on these

cases, even though their own Federal Circuit had not yet ruled on

consent-once-removed entries. See Wilson v. Layne, 526 U. S. 603,

618. Pp. 19–20.

494 F. 3d 891, reversed.

ALITO, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 1

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the

preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to

notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order

that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 07–751

_________________

CORDELL PEARSON, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. AFTON

CALLAHAN

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

[January 21, 2009]

JUSTICE ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an action brought by respondent under Rev.

Stat. §1979, 42 U. S. C. §1983, against state law enforce

ment officers who conducted a warrantless search of his

house incident to his arrest for the sale of methampheta

mine to an undercover informant whom he had voluntarily

admitted to the premises. The Court of Appeals held that

petitioners were not entitled to summary judgment on

qualified immunity grounds. Following the procedure we

mandated in Saucier v. Katz, 533 U. S. 194 (2001), the

Court of Appeals held, first, that respondent adduced facts

sufficient to make out a violation of the Fourth Amend

ment and, second, that the unconstitutionality of the

officers’ conduct was clearly established. In granting

review, we required the parties to address the additional

question whether the mandatory procedure set out in

Saucier should be retained.

We now hold that the Saucier procedure should not be

regarded as an inflexible requirement and that petitioners

are entitled to qualified immunity on the ground that it

was not clearly established at the time of the search that

2 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

their conduct was unconstitutional. We therefore reverse.

I

A

The Central Utah Narcotics Task Force is charged with

investigating illegal drug use and sales. In 2002, Brian

Bartholomew, who became an informant for the task force

after having been charged with the unlawful possession of

methamphetamine, informed Officer Jeffrey Whatcott that

respondent Afton Callahan had arranged to sell Bar

tholomew methamphetamine later that day.

That evening, Bartholomew arrived at respondent’s

residence at about 8 p.m. Once there, Bartholomew went

inside and confirmed that respondent had methampheta

mine available for sale. Bartholomew then told respon

dent that he needed to obtain money to make his purchase

and left.

Bartholomew met with members of the task force at

about 9 p.m. and told them that he would be able to buy a

gram of methamphetamine for $100. After concluding

that Bartholomew was capable of completing the planned

purchase, the officers searched him, determined that he

had no controlled substances on his person, gave him a

marked $100 bill and a concealed electronic transmitter to

monitor his conversations, and agreed on a signal that he

would give after completing the purchase.

The officers drove Bartholomew to respondent’s trailer

home, and respondent’s daughter let him inside. Respon

dent then retrieved a large bag containing methampheta

mine from his freezer and sold Bartholomew a gram of

methamphetamine, which he put into a small plastic bag.

Bartholomew gave the arrest signal to the officers who

were monitoring the conversation, and they entered the

trailer through a porch door. In the enclosed porch, the

officers encountered Bartholomew, respondent, and two

other persons, and they saw respondent drop a plastic bag,

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

Opinion of the Court

which they later determined contained methampheta

mine. The officers then conducted a protective sweep

of the premises. In addition to the large bag of meth-

amphetamine, the officers recovered the marked bill

from respondent and a small bag containing meth-

amphetamine from Bartholomew, and they found drug

syringes in the residence. As a result, respondent was

charged with the unlawful possession and distribution of

methamphetamine.

B

The trial court held that the warrantless arrest and

search were supported by exigent circumstances. On

respondent’s appeal from his conviction, the Utah attorney

general conceded the absence of exigent circumstances,

but urged that the inevitable discovery doctrine justified

introduction of the fruits of the warrantless search. The

Utah Court of Appeals disagreed and vacated respondent’s

conviction. See State v. Callahan, 2004 LIT App. 164, 93

P. 3d 103. Respondent then brought this damages action

under 42 U. S. C. §1983 in the United States District

Court for the District of Utah, alleging that the officers

had violated the Fourth Amendment by entering his home

without a warrant. See Callahan v. Millard Cty., No.

2:04–CV–00952, 2006 WL 1409130 (2006).

In granting the officers’ motion for summary judgment,

the District Court noted that other courts had adopted the

“consent-once-removed” doctrine, which permits a war

rantless entry by police officers into a home when consent

to enter has already been granted to an undercover officer

or informant who has observed contraband in plain view.

Believing that this doctrine was in tension with our inter

vening decision in Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U. S. 103

(2006), the District Court concluded that “the simplest

approach is to assume that the Supreme Court will ulti

mately reject the [consent-once-removed] doctrine and find

4 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

that searches such as the one in this case are not reason

able under the Fourth Amendment.” 2006 WL 1409130,

at *8. The Court then held that the officers were entitled

to qualified immunity because they could reasonably have

believed that the consent-once-removed doctrine author

ized their conduct.

On appeal, a divided panel of the Tenth Circuit held

that petitioners’ conduct violated respondent’s Fourth

Amendment rights. Callahan v. Millard Cty., 494 F. 3d

891, 895–899 (2007). The panel majority stated that “[t]he

‘consent-once-removed’ doctrine applies when an under

cover officer enters a house at the express invitation of

someone with authority to consent, establishes probable

cause to arrest or search, and then immediately summons

other officers for assistance.” Id., at 896. The majority

took no issue with application of the doctrine when the

initial consent was granted to an undercover law enforce

ment officer, but the majority disagreed with decisions

that “broade[n] this doctrine to grant informants the same

capabilities as undercover officers.” Ibid.

The Tenth Circuit panel further held that the Fourth

Amendment right that it recognized was clearly estab

lished at the time of respondent’s arrest. Id., at 898–899.

“In this case,” the majority stated, “the relevant right is

the right to be free in one’s home from unreasonable

searches and arrests.” Id., at 898. The Court determined

that, under the clearly established precedents of this

Court and the Tenth Circuit, “warrantless entries into a

home are per se unreasonable unless they satisfy the

established exceptions.” Id., at 898–899. In the panel’s

words, “the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit have

clearly established that to allow police entry into a home,

the only two exceptions to the warrant requirement are

consent and exigent circumstances.” Id., at 899. Against

that backdrop, the panel concluded, petitioners could not

reasonably have believed that their conduct was lawful

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 5

Opinion of the Court

because petitioners “knew (1) they had no warrant; (2)

[respondent] had not consented to their entry; and (3)

[respondent’s] consent to the entry of an informant could

not reasonably be interpreted to extend to them.” Ibid.

In dissent, Judge Kelly argued that “no constitutional

violation occurred in this case” because, by inviting Bar

tholomew into his house and participating in a narcotics

transaction there, respondent had compromised the pri

vacy of the residence and had assumed the risk that Bar

tholomew would reveal their dealings to the police. Id., at

903. Judge Kelly further concluded that, even if petition

ers’ conduct had been unlawful, they were nevertheless

entitled to qualified immunity because the constitutional

right at issue—“the right to be free from the warrantless

entry of police officers into one’s home to effectuate an

arrest after one has granted voluntary, consensual entry

to a confidential informant and undertaken criminal

activity giving rise to probable cause”—was not “clearly

established” at the time of the events in question. Id., at

903–904.

As noted, the Court of Appeals followed the Saucier

procedure. The Saucier procedure has been criticized by

Members of this Court and by lower court judges, who

have been required to apply the procedure in a great

variety of cases and thus have much firsthand experience

bearing on its advantages and disadvantages. Accord

ingly, in granting certiorari, we directed the parties to

address the question whether Saucier should be overruled.

552 U. S. ___ (2008).

II

A

The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government

officials “from liability for civil damages insofar as their

conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or

constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would

6 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

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have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818

(1982). Qualified immunity balances two important inter

ests—the need to hold public officials accountable when

they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield

officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when

they perform their duties reasonably. The protection of

qualified immunity applies regardless of whether the

government official’s error is “a mistake of law, a mistake

of fact, or a mistake based on mixed questions of law and

fact.” Groh v. Ramirez, 540 U. S. 551, 567 (2004)

(KENNEDY, J., dissenting) (citing Butz v. Economou, 438

U. S. 478, 507 (1978) (noting that qualified immunity

covers “mere mistakes in judgment, whether the mistake

is one of fact or one of law”)).

Because qualified immunity is “an immunity from suit

rather than a mere defense to liability . . . it is effectively

lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial.”

Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U. S. 511, 526 (1985) (emphasis

deleted). Indeed, we have made clear that the “driving

force” behind creation of the qualified immunity doctrine

was a desire to ensure that “ ‘insubstantial claims’ against

government officials [will] be resolved prior to discovery.”

Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U. S. 635, 640, n. 2 (1987).

Accordingly, “we repeatedly have stressed the importance

of resolving immunity questions at the earliest possible

stage in litigation.” Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U. S. 224, 227

(1991) (per curiam).

In Saucier, 533 U. S. 194, this Court mandated a two

step sequence for resolving government officials’ qualified

immunity claims. First, a court must decide whether the

facts that a plaintiff has alleged (see Fed. Rules Civ. Proc.

12(b)(6), (c)) or shown (see Rules 50, 56) make out a viola

tion of a constitutional right. 533 U. S., at 201. Second, if

the plaintiff has satisfied this first step, the court must

decide whether the right at issue was “clearly established”

at the time of defendant’s alleged misconduct. Ibid.

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 7

Opinion of the Court

Qualified immunity is applicable unless the official’s

conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right.

Anderson, supra, at 640.

Our decisions prior to Saucier had held that “the better

approach to resolving cases in which the defense of quali

fied immunity is raised is to determine first whether the

plaintiff has alleged a deprivation of a constitutional right

at all.” County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U. S. 833, 841,

n. 5 (1998). Saucier made that suggestion a mandate. For

the first time, we held that whether “the facts alleged

show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right

. . . must be the initial inquiry” in every qualified immu

nity case. 533 U. S., at 20 (emphasis added). Only after

completing this first step, we said, may a court turn to

“the next, sequential step,” namely, “whether the right

was clearly established.” Ibid.

This two-step procedure, the Saucier Court reasoned, is

necessary to support the Constitution’s “elaboration from

case to case” and to prevent constitutional stagnation.

Ibid. “The law might be deprived of this explanation were

a court simply to skip ahead to the question whether the

law clearly established that the officer's conduct was

unlawful in the circumstances of the case.” Ibid.

B

In considering whether the Saucier procedure should be

modified or abandoned, we must begin with the doctrine of

stare decisis. Stare decisis “promotes the evenhanded,

predictable, and consistent development of legal princi

ples, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes

to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial proc

ess.” Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U. S. 808, 827 (1991). Al

though “[w]e approach the reconsideration of [our] deci

sions . . . with the utmost caution,” “[s]tare decisis is not

an inexorable command.” State Oil Co. v. Khan, 522 U. S.

3, 20 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). Revisit

8 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

ing precedent is particularly appropriate where, as here, a

departure would not upset expectations, the precedent

consists of a judge-made rule that was recently adopted to

improve the operation of the courts, and experience has

pointed up the precedent’s shortcomings.

“Considerations in favor of stare decisis are at their

acme in cases involving property and contract rights,

where reliance interests are involved; the opposite is true

in cases . . . involving procedural and evidentiary rules”

that do not produce such reliance. Payne, supra, at 828

(citations omitted). Like rules governing procedures and

the admission of evidence in the trial courts, Saucier’s

two-step protocol does not affect the way in which parties

order their affairs. Withdrawing from Saucier’s categori

cal rule would not upset settled expectations on anyone’s

part. See United States v. Gaudin, 515 U. S. 506, 521

(1995).

Nor does this matter implicate “the general presumption

that legislative changes should be left to Congress.” Khan,

supra, at 20. We recognize that “considerations of stare

decisis weigh heavily in the area of statutory construction,

where Congress is free to change this Court’s interpreta

tion of its legislation.” Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431

U. S. 720, 736 (1977). But the Saucier rule is judge made

and implicates an important matter involving internal

Judicial Branch operations. Any change should come from

this Court, not Congress.

Respondent argues that the Saucier procedure should

not be reconsidered unless we conclude that its justifica

tion was “badly reasoned” or that the rule has proved to be

“unworkable,” see Payne, supra, at 827, but those stan

dards, which are appropriate when a constitutional or

statutory precedent is challenged, are out of place in the

present context. Because of the basis and the nature of

the Saucier two-step protocol, it is sufficient that we now

have a considerable body of new experience to consider

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 9

Opinion of the Court

regarding the consequences of requiring adherence to this

inflexible procedure. This experience supports our present

determination that a mandatory, two-step rule for resolv

ing all qualified immunity claims should not be retained.

Lower court judges, who have had the task of applying

the Saucier rule on a regular basis for the past eight

years, have not been reticent in their criticism of Saucier’s

“rigid order of battle.” See, e.g., Purtell v. Mason, 527

F. 3d 615, 622 (CA7 2008) (“This ‘rigid order of battle’ has

been criticized on practical, procedural, and substantive

grounds”); Leval, Judging Under the Constitution: Dicta

About Dicta, 81 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 1249, 1275, 1277 (2006)

(referring to Saucier’s mandatory two-step framework as

“a new and mischievous rule” that amounts to “a puzzling

misadventure in constitutional dictum”). And application

of the rule has not always been enthusiastic. See Higazy

v. Templeton, 505 F. 3d 161, 179, n. 19 (CA2 2007) (“We do

not reach the issue of whether [plaintiff’s] Sixth Amend

ment rights were violated, because principles of judicial

restraint caution us to avoid reaching constitutional ques

tions when they are unnecessary to the disposition of a

case”); Cherrington v. Skeeter, 344 F. 3d 631, 640 (CA6

2003) (“[I]t ultimately is unnecessary for us to decide

whether the individual Defendants did or did not heed the

Fourth Amendment command . . . because they are enti

tled to qualified immunity in any event”); Pearson v.

Ramos, 237 F. 3d 881, 884 (CA7 2001) (“Whether [the

Saucier] rule is absolute may be doubted”).

Members of this Court have also voiced criticism of the

Saucier rule. See Morse v. Frederick, 551 U. S. ___, ___

(2007) (slip op., at 8) (BREYER, J., concurring in judgment

in part and dissenting in part) (“I would end the failed

Saucier experiment now”); Bunting v. Mellen, 541 U. S.

1019 (2004) (STEVENS, J., joined by GINSBURG and

BREYER, JJ., respecting denial of certiorari) (criticizing the

“unwise judge-made rule under which courts must decide

10 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

whether the plaintiff has alleged a constitutional violation

before addressing the question whether the defendant

state actor is entitled to qualified immunity”); Id., at 1025

(SCALIA, J., joined by Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting from

denial of certiorari) (“We should either make clear that

constitutional determinations are not insulated from our

review . . . or else drop any pretense at requiring the

ordering in every case” (emphasis in original)); Brosseau v.

Haugen, 543 U. S. 194, 201–202 (2004) (BREYER, J., joined

by SCALIA and GINSBURG, JJ., concurring) (urging Court

to reconsider Saucier’s “rigid ‘order of battle,’ ” which

“requires courts unnecessarily to decide difficult constitu

tional questions when there is available an easier basis for

the decision (e.g., qualified immunity) that will satisfacto

rily resolve the case before the court”); Saucier, 533 U. S.,

at 210 (GINSBURG, J., concurring in judgment) (“The two

part test today’s decision imposes holds large potential to

confuse”).

Where a decision has “been questioned by Members of

the Court in later decisions and [has] defied consistent

application by the lower courts,” these factors weigh in

favor of reconsideration. Payne, 501 U. S., at 829–830; see

also Crawford v. Washington, 541 U. S. 36, 60 (2004).

Collectively, the factors we have noted make our present

reevaluation of the Saucier two-step protocol appropriate.

III

On reconsidering the procedure required in Saucier, we

conclude that, while the sequence set forth there is often

appropriate, it should no longer be regarded as manda

tory. The judges of the district courts and the courts of

appeals should be permitted to exercise their sound discre

tion in deciding which of the two prongs of the qualified

immunity analysis should be addressed first in light of the

circumstances in the particular case at hand.

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009)

11

Opinion of the Court

A

Although we now hold that the Saucier protocol should

not be regarded as mandatory in all cases, we continue to

recognize that it is often beneficial. For one thing, there

are cases in which there would be little if any conservation

of judicial resources to be had by beginning and ending

with a discussion of the “clearly established” prong. “[I]t

often may be difficult to decide whether a right is clearly

established without deciding precisely what the constitu

tional right happens to be.” Lyons v. Xenia, 417 F. 3d 565,

581 (CA6 2005) (Sutton, J., concurring). In some cases, a

discussion of why the relevant facts do not violate clearly

established law may make it apparent that in fact the

relevant facts do not make out a constitutional violation at

all. In addition, the Saucier Court was certainly correct in

noting that the two-step procedure promotes the develop

ment of constitutional precedent and is especially valu-

able with respect to questions that do not frequently

arise in cases in which a qualified immunity defense is

unavailable.

B

At the same time, however, the rigid Saucier procedure

comes with a price. The procedure sometimes results in a

substantial expenditure of scarce judicial resources on

difficult questions that have no effect on the outcome of

the case. There are cases in which it is plain that a consti

tutional right is not clearly established but far from obvi

ous whether in fact there is such a right. District courts

and courts of appeals with heavy caseloads are often

understandably unenthusiastic about what may seem to

be an essentially academic exercise.

Unnecessary litigation of constitutional issues also

wastes the parties’ resources. Qualified immunity is “an

immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liabil

ity.” Mitchell, 472 U. S., at 526 (emphasis deleted). Sau

12 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

cier’s two-step protocol “disserve[s] the purpose of quali

fied immunity” when it “forces the parties to endure addi

tional burdens of suit—such as the costs of litigating

constitutional questions and delays attributable to resolv

ing them—when the suit otherwise could be disposed of

more readily.” Brief for Nat. Assn. of Criminal Defense

Lawyers as Amicus Curiae 30.

Although the first prong of the Saucier procedure is

intended to further the development of constitutional

precedent, opinions following that procedure often fail to

make a meaningful contribution to such development. For

one thing, there are cases in which the constitutional

question is so fact-bound that the decision provides little

guidance for future cases. See Scott v. Harris, 550 U. S.

372, 388 (2007) (BREYER, J., concurring) (counseling

against the Saucier two-step protocol where the question

is “so fact dependent that the result will be confusion

rather than clarity”); Buchanan v. Maine, 469 F. 3d 158,

168 (CA1 2006) (“We do not think the law elaboration

purpose will be well served here, where the Fourth

Amendment inquiry involves a reasonableness question

which is highly idiosyncratic and heavily dependent on the

facts”).

A decision on the underlying constitutional question in a

§1983 damages action or a Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed.

Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971),1 action may have

scant value when it appears that the question will soon be

decided by a higher court. When presented with a consti

tutional question on which this Court had just granted

certiorari, the Ninth Circuit elected to “bypass Saucier’s

first step and decide only whether [the alleged right] was

——————

1 See Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818, and n. 30 (1982) (not

ing that the Court’s decisions equate the qualified immunity of state

officials sued under 42 U. S. C. §1983 with the immunity of federal

officers sued directly under the Constitution).

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 13

Opinion of the Court

clearly established.” Motley v. Parks, 432 F. 3d 1072,

1078, and n. 5 (2005) (en banc). Similar considerations

may come into play when a court of appeals panel con

fronts a constitutional question that is pending before the

court en banc or when a district court encounters a consti

tutional question that is before the court of appeals.

A constitutional decision resting on an uncertain inter

pretation of state law is also of doubtful precedential

importance. As a result, several courts have identified an

“exception” to the Saucier rule for cases in which resolu

tion of the constitutional question requires clarification of

an ambiguous state statute. Egolf v. Witmer, 526 F. 3d

104, 109–111 (CA3 2008); accord, Tremblay v. McClellan,

350 F. 3d 195, 200 (CA1 2003); Ehrlich v. Glastonbury,

348 F. 3d 48, 57–60 (CA2 2003). Justifying the decision to

grant qualified immunity to the defendant without first

resolving, under Saucier’s first prong, whether the defen

dant’s conduct violated the Constitution, these courts have

observed that Saucier’s “underlying principle” of encourag

ing federal courts to decide unclear legal questions in

order to clarify the law for the future “is not meaningfully

advanced . . . when the definition of constitutional rights

depends on a federal court’s uncertain assumptions about

state law.” Egolf, supra, at 110; accord, Tremblay, supra,

at 200; Ehrlich, supra, at 58.

When qualified immunity is asserted at the pleading

stage, the precise factual basis for the plaintiff’s claim or

claims may be hard to identify. See Lyons, supra, at 582

(Sutton, J., concurring); Kwai Fun Wong v. United States,

373 F. 3d 952, 957 (CA9 2004); Mollica v. Volker, 229 F. 3d

366, 374 (CA2 2000). Accordingly, several courts have

recognized that the two-step inquiry “is an uncomfortable

exercise where . . . the answer [to] whether there was a

violation may depend on a kaleidoscope of facts not yet

fully developed” and have suggested that “[i]t may be that

Saucier was not strictly intended to cover” this situation.

14 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

Dirrane v. Brookline Police Dept., 315 F. 3d 65, 69–70

(CA1 2002); see also Robinette v. Jones, 476 F. 3d 585, 592,

n. 8 (CA8 2007) (declining to follow Saucier because “the

parties have provided very few facts to define and limit

any holding” on the constitutional question).

There are circumstances in which the first step of the

Saucier procedure may create a risk of bad decisionmak

ing. The lower courts sometimes encounter cases in which

the briefing of constitutional questions is woefully inade

quate. See Lyons, 417 F. 3d, at 582 (Sutton, J., concur

ring) (noting the “risk that constitutional questions may

be prematurely and incorrectly decided in cases where

they are not well presented”); Mollica, supra, at 374.

Although the Saucier rule prescribes the sequence in

which the issues must be discussed by a court in its opin

ion, the rule does not—and obviously cannot—specify the

sequence in which judges reach their conclusions in their

own internal thought processes. Thus, there will be cases

in which a court will rather quickly and easily decide that

there was no violation of clearly established law before

turning to the more difficult question whether the relevant

facts make out a constitutional question at all. In such

situations, there is a risk that a court may not devote as

much care as it would in other circumstances to the deci

sion of the constitutional issue. See Horne v. Coughlin,

191 F. 3d, 244, 247 (CA2 1999) (“Judges risk being insuffi

ciently thoughtful and cautious in uttering pronounce

ments that play no role in their adjudication”); Leval

1278–1279.

Rigid adherence to the Saucier rule may make it hard

for affected parties to obtain appellate review of constitu

tional decisions that may have a serious prospective effect

on their operations. Where a court holds that a defendant

committed a constitutional violation but that the violation

was not clearly established, the defendant may face a

difficult situation. As the winning party, the defendant’s

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 15

Opinion of the Court

right to appeal the adverse holding on the constitutional

question may be contested. See Bunting, 541 U. S., at

1025 (SCALIA, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari)

(“The perception of unreviewability undermines adherence

to the sequencing rule we . . . created” in Saucier);2 see

also Kalka v. Hawk, 215 F. 3d 90, 96, n. 9 (CADC 2000)

(noting that “[n]ormally, a party may not appeal from a

favorable judgment” and that the Supreme Court “has

apparently never granted the certiorari petition of a party

who prevailed in the appellate court”). In cases like Bun

ting, the “prevailing” defendant faces an unenviable

choice: “compl[y] with the lower court’s advisory dictum

without opportunity to seek appellate [or certiorari] re

view,” or “def[y] the views of the lower court, adher[e] to

practices that have been declared illegal, and thus invit[e]

new suits” and potential “punitive damages.” Horne,

supra, at 247–248.

Adherence to Saucier’s two-step protocol departs from

the general rule of constitutional avoidance and runs

counter to the “older, wiser judicial counsel ‘not to pass on

questions of constitutionality . . . unless such adjudication

is unavoidable.’ ” Scott, 550 U. S., at 388 (BREYER, J.,

——————

2 In Bunting, the Court of Appeals followed the Saucier two-step pro

tocol and first held that the Virginia Military Institute’s use of the word

“God” in a “supper roll call” ceremony violated the Establishment

Clause, but then granted the defendants qualified immunity because

the law was not clearly established at the relevant time. Mellen v.

Bunting, 327 F. 3d 355, 365–376 (CA4 2003), cert. denied, 541 U. S.

1019 (2004). Although they had a judgment in their favor below, the

defendants asked this Court to review the adverse constitutional

ruling. Dissenting from the denial of certiorari, JUSTICE SCALIA, joined

by Chief Justice Rehnquist, criticized “a perceived procedural tangle of

the Court’s own making.” 541 U. S., at 1022. The “tangle” arose from

the Court’s “ ‘settled refusal’ to entertain an appeal by a party on an

issue as to which he prevailed” below, a practice that insulates from

review adverse merits decisions that are “locked inside” favorable

qualified immunity rulings. Id., at 1023, 1024.

16 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

concurring) (quoting Spector Motor Service, Inc. v.

McLaughlin, 323 U. S. 101, 105 (1944)); see Ashwander v.

TVA, 297 U. S. 288, 347 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring)

(“The Court will not pass upon a constitutional question

although properly presented by the record, if there is also

present some other ground upon which the case may be

disposed of ”).

In other analogous contexts, we have appropriately

declined to mandate the order of decision that the lower

courts must follow. For example, in Strickland v. Wash

ington, 466 U. S. 668 (1984), we recognized a two-part test

for determining whether a criminal defendant was denied

the effective assistance of counsel: The defendant must

demonstrate (1) that his counsel’s performance fell below

what could be expected of a reasonably competent practi

tioner; and (2) that he was prejudiced by that substandard

performance. Id., at 687. After setting forth and applying

the analytical framework that courts must use in evaluat

ing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, we left it to

the sound discretion of lower courts to determine the order

of decision. Id., at 697 (“Although we have discussed the

performance component of an ineffectiveness claim prior

to the prejudice component, there is no reason for a court

deciding an ineffective assistance claim to approach the

inquiry in the same order or even to address both compo

nents of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient

showing on one”).

In United States v. Leon, 468 U. S. 897 (1984), we cre

ated an exception to the exclusionary rule when officers

reasonably rely on a facially valid search warrant. Id., at

913. In that context, we recognized that a defendant

challenging a search will lose if either: (1) the warrant

issued was supported by probable cause; or (2) it was not,

but the officers executing it reasonably believed that it

was. Again, after setting forth and applying the analytical

framework that courts must use in evaluating the good

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 17

Opinion of the Court

faith exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant re

quirement, we left it to the sound discretion of the lower

courts to determine the order of decision. Id., at 924, 925

(“There is no need for courts to adopt the inflexible prac

tice of always deciding whether the officers’ conduct mani

fested objective good faith before turning to the question

whether the Fourth Amendment has been violated”).

This flexibility properly reflects our respect for the lower

federal courts that bear the brunt of adjudicating these

cases. Because the two-step Saucier procedure is often,

but not always, advantageous, the judges of the district

courts and the courts of appeals are in the best position to

determine the order of decisionmaking will best facilitate

the fair and efficient disposition of each case.

C

Any misgivings concerning our decision to withdraw

from the mandate set forth in Saucier are unwarranted.

Our decision does not prevent the lower courts from fol

lowing the Saucier procedure; it simply recognizes that

those courts should have the discretion to decide whether

that procedure is worthwhile in particular cases. More

over, the development of constitutional law is by no means

entirely dependent on cases in which the defendant may

seek qualified immunity. Most of the constitutional issues

that are presented in §1983 damages actions and Bivens

cases also arise in cases in which that defense is not avail

able, such as criminal cases and §1983 cases against a

municipality, as well as §1983 cases against individuals

where injunctive relief is sought instead of or in addition

to damages. See Lewis, 523 U. S., at 841, n. 5 (noting that

qualified immunity is unavailable “in a suit to enjoin

future conduct, in an action against a municipality, or in

litigating a suppression motion”).

We also do not think that relaxation of Saucier’s man

date is likely to result in a proliferation of damages claims

18 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

against local governments. Compare Brief for Nat. Assn.

of Counties et al., as Amici Curiae 29, 30 (“[T]o the extent

that a rule permitting courts to bypass the merits makes it

more difficult for civil rights plaintiffs to pursue novel

claims, they will have greater reason to press custom,

policy, or practice [damages] claims against local govern

ments”). It is hard to see how the Saucier procedure could

have a significant effect on a civil rights plaintiff’s decision

whether to seek damages only from a municipal employee

or also from the municipality. Whether the Saucier proce

dure is mandatory or discretionary, the plaintiff will pre

sumably take into account the possibility that the individ

ual defendant will be held to have qualified immunity, and

presumably the plaintiff will seek damages from the mu

nicipality as well as the individual employee if the benefits

of doing so (any increase in the likelihood of recovery or

collection of damages) outweigh the litigation costs.

Nor do we think that allowing the lower courts to exer

cise their discretion with respect to the Saucier procedure

will spawn “a new cottage industry of litigation . . . over

the standards for deciding whether to reach the merits in

a given case.” Brief for Nat. Assn. of Counties et al. as

Amici Curiae 29, 30. It does not appear that such a “cot

tage industry” developed prior to Saucier, and we see no

reason why our decision today should produce such a

result.

IV

Turning to the conduct of the officers here, we hold that

petitioners are entitled to qualified immunity because the

entry did not violate clearly established law. An officer

conducting a search is entitled to qualified immunity

where clearly established law does not show that the

search violated the Fourth Amendment. See Anderson,

483 U. S., at 641. This inquiry turns on the “objective

legal reasonableness of the action, assessed in light of the

Cite as: 555 U. S. ____ (2009) 19

Opinion of the Court

legal rules that were clearly established at the time it was

taken.” Wilson v. Layne, 526 U. S. 603, 614 (1999) (inter

nal quotation marks omitted); see Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U. S.

730, 739 (2002) (“[Q]ualified immunity operates to ensure

that before they are subjected to suit, officers are on notice

their conduct is unlawful” (internal quotation marks

omitted)).

When the entry at issue here occurred in 2002, the

“consent-once-removed” doctrine had gained acceptance in

the lower courts. This doctrine had been considered by

three Federal Courts of Appeals and two State Supreme

Courts starting in the early 1980’s. See, e.g., United

States v. Diaz, 814 F. 2d 454, 459 (CA7), cert. denied, 484

U. S. 857 (1987); United States v. Bramble, 103 F. 3d 1475

(CA9 1996); United States v. Pollard, 215 F. 3d 643, 648–

649 (CA6), cert. denied, 531 U. S. 999 (2000); State v.

Henry, 133 N. J. 104, 627 A. 2d 125 (1993); State v. Johns

ton, 184 Wis. 2d 794, 518 N. W. 2d 759 (1994). It had been

accepted by every one of those courts. Moreover, the

Seventh Circuit had approved the doctrine’s application to

cases involving consensual entries by private citizens

acting as confidential informants. See United States v.

Paul, 808 F. 2d, 645, 648 (1986). The Sixth Circuit

reached the same conclusion after the events that gave

rise to respondent’s suit, see United States v. Yoon, 398

F. 3d 802, 806–808, cert. denied, 546 U. S. 977 (2005), and

prior to the Tenth Circuit’s decision in the present case, no

court of appeals had issued a contrary decision.

The officers here were entitled to rely on these cases,

even though their own Federal Circuit had not yet ruled

on “consent-once-removed” entries. The principles of

qualified immunity shield an officer from personal liability

when an officer reasonably believes that his or her conduct

complies with the law. Police officers are entitled to rely

on existing lower court cases without facing personal

liability for their actions. In Wilson, we explained that a

20 PEARSON v. CALLAHAN

Opinion of the Court

Circuit split on the relevant issue had developed after the

events that gave rise to suit and concluded that “[i]f judges

thus disagree on a constitutional question, it is unfair to

subject police to money damages for picking the losing side

of the controversy.” 526 U. S., at 618. Likewise, here,

where the divergence of views on the consent-once

removed doctrine was created by the decision of the Court

of Appeals in this case, it is improper to subject petitioners

to money damages for their conduct.

Because the unlawfulness of the officers’ conduct in this

case was not clearly established, petitioners are entitled to

qualified immunity. We therefore reverse the judgment of

the Court of Appeals.

It is so ordered.