# Kinney v. Weaver

> Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · September 24, 2002 · 367 F.3d 337

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9414203

## Case

- **Full name:** Dean KINNEY; David Hall, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Bobby WEAVER, Etc.; Et Al., Defendants, J.B. Smith, Smith County Sheriff; Smith County, Texas; W.A. “Bill” Young, Tyler Police Chief; City of Tyler, Texas; East Texas Police Chiefs Association; Bobby Weaver, Gregg County Sheriff; Bob Green, Harrison County Sheriff; Gregg County, Texas; Harrison County, Texas; Ronnie Moore, Kilgore Director of Public Safety; Charles “Chuck” Williams, City of Marshall Police Chief; Ted Gibson, Nacogdoches Police Chief; City of Kilgore, Texas; City of Marshall, Texas; City of Nacogdoches, Texas, Defendants-Appellants
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- **Decided:** September 24, 2002
- **Citations:** 367 F.3d 337; 2004 WL 811724
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Jolly
- **Judges:** King, Jolly, Higginbotham, Davis, Jones, Smith, Wiener, Barksdale, Garza, Demoss, Benavides, Stewart, Dennis, Clement, Prado
- **Cited by:** 222 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9414203

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that, as indi-viduais placed in law enforcement such as police academy instructors "are often in the best position to know” about issues of public concern related to law enforcement, these individuals should be able to speak out freely
- holding that, in an interlocutory appeal, “we lack the power to review the district court’s decision that a genuine factual dispute exists”
- stating that the court may “consider only whether the district court erred in assessing the legal significance of the conduct that the district court deemed sufficiently supported for purposes of summary judgment”
- holding that it is the existence of the power to affect employment — rather than “mere labels describing governmental relationships” — that determine whether an adverse employment action has occurred

## Opinion text

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge,
Dissenting:
I respectfully dissent and agree with Judges Jones and Barksdale that the defendant law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity and should be released from personal liability. It seems disingenuous to hold that the law is clearly established when it takes 20,467 words to explain, and when six United States Court of Appeals judges sharply disagree about it. To my way of reasoning, the majority has turned the words, and the doctrine, of “clearly established” on its head when it denies immunity in this novel case.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9414203. Public record. Not legal advice.