reversing the denial of qualified immunity because the district court defined the constitutional right in question too generally; the issue of whether the right was clearly established must be particularized to the case
How later courts described this case
- reversing the denial of qualified immunity because the district court defined the constitutional right in question too generally; the issue of whether the right was clearly established must be particularized to the case
- where single case presented by plaintiffs is factually distinguishable, “plaintiffs have not carried their burden to show that the unconstitutional nature of [the defendant officer’s] conduct was clearly established”
- construing the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiffs on review of a district court’s summary judgment denial of qualified immunity
- “An individual is entitled to qualified immunity if his conduct does not violate clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
KELLY, Circuit Judge, concurring
I agree that Hershell Wallace is entitled to qualified immunity. I write to note that St. Louis’s municipal liability is not before us on this appeal. The plaintiffs made three claims relating to Wallace’s Project 87 inspection. One of those claims sought to hold Wallace personally liable—this appeal disposes of that claim. The remaining two claims seek to hold the City of St. Louis liable for an unconstitutional policy under Monell v. Dep’t of Social Servs. of N.Y.C., 436 U.S. 658 , 98 S.Ct. 2018 , 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). We express no opinion on the district court’s denial of summary judgment on these Monell claims. And, because we grant Wallace qualified immunity based on a lack of clearly-established law, our ruling is not determinative of whether his employer is liable for effectuating an unconstitutional policy. See Owen v. City of Independence, Mo., 445 U.S. 622, 657-58 , 100 S.Ct. 1398 , 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980). Thus, our opinion does not foreclose the plaintiffs from pursuing their Mo-nell claims based on Project 87 searches.