# Estate of Leon Walker, Jr. v. Hershell Wallace

> Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · February 8, 2018 · 881 F.3d 1056

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9880074

## Case

- **Full name:** ESTATE OF Leon WALKER, Jr.; Wanda Jean Millbrook; Correll Taylor Millbrook; Victor Wayne Millbrooks, Jr. Plaintiffs-Appellees v. Building Inspector Hershell WALLACE, in His Individual, Capacity Defendant-Appellant. Detective Ronald E. Vaughn, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer in His Individual Capacity; City of St. Louis, Missouri Defendants
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- **Decided:** February 8, 2018
- **Citations:** 881 F.3d 1056
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Kelly
- **Judges:** Smith, Arnold, Kelly
- **Cited by:** 29 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/9880074

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- 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

## Opinion text

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.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9880074. Public record. Not legal advice.