Case law

Kirkland Ex Rel. Jones v. Greene County Board of Education

347 F.3d 903 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Oct 7, 2003

Notwithstanding that his actual conduct may have violated the Constitution, Morrow agues that at the time of the incident the right to be free from corporal punishment was not clearly established. … Thus, the qualified immunity question turns on whether Morrow’s actions as described by Kirkland violated these principles.

Eric Andre v. Clayton County, Georgia

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 15, 2025

alleged a Fourth Amendment violation, the individual defendants were entitled to qualified immunity because, in relevant part, the law was not clearly established. … A supervisor is entitled to qualified immunity if his alleged supervisory conduct did not violate clearly established law. See Ingram, 30 F.4th at 1256; see also Alcocer v.

Monteria Najuda Robinson v. William Sauls

46 F.4th 1332 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 30, 2022

To receive qualified immunity, an official “must establish that he or she acted within the scope of discretionary authority when the allegedly wrongful acts occurred.” Hardigree v. … Robinson’s clearly established rights. A right is clearly established when it is “suffi- ciently clear that every reasonable official would have understood that what he is doing violates that right.” Mullenix v.

Alexander v. University Of North Florida

39 F.3d 290 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Dec 2, 1994

PER CURIAM: 1 Principles of qualified immunity control this case. … But, nothing in Cornelius comes close to the "clearly established" standard required to overcome the qualified immunity defense in this case.

William Geoffery Dobbins v. J.C. Giles

451 F. App'x 849 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 9, 2012

right, and (2) that the right was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct.” … the two prongs required to defeat a defense of qualified immunity.

Maughon v. Bibb County

160 F.3d 658 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Nov 2, 1998

Qualified immunity shields government agents engaged in discretionary functions from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which … We must decide whether the officers violated clearly established law.

Mobley v. Palm Beach County Sheriff Department

783 F.3d 1347 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 15, 2015

Gwinnett County, 967 F.2d 1495 (11th Cir. 1992), a qualified immunity excessive force case. … We read Moore to be articulating the law that was clearly established at the time of the pre-Graham arrest.

Terry Dukes, Sr. v. Chase Gregory

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Oct 16, 2025

duct that violated clearly established law.” … We not only found a violation of the Fourth Amendment in Bashir; we also held that, for qualified immunity purposes, it was clearly established that the officer’s conduct violated the Fourth Amendment

Reams v. Irvin

561 F.3d 1258 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Mar 9, 2009

She asserts that because she demonstrated that GDA officials violated her clearly established due process rights, the district court erred in concluding that they were entitled to qualified immunity. … Inasmuch as Reams failed to establish a constitutional violation, appel-lees were entitled to qualified immunity.

Julio Cesar Andujar v. Jorge Rodriguez

486 F.3d 1199 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Mar 16, 2007

"Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from suits in their individual capacities unless their conduct violates 'clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which … that qualified immunity is not appropriate.

Andujar v. Rodriguez

480 F.3d 1248 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Mar 16, 2007

“Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from suits in their individual capacities unless their conduct violates ‘clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which … When a government official seeks summary judgment based on qualified immunity, courts apply a two-step test to determine whether qualified immunity is appropriate.

Purcell Ex Rel. Estate of Morgan v. Toombs County, GA

400 F.3d 1313 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Feb 24, 2005

“Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from civil trials [] and from liability if their conduct violates no clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a … , we need not address the element of preexisting clearly established law.

Nicholson v. Georgia Department of Human Resources

918 F.2d 145 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Nov 27, 1990

engaged in conduct violative of the clearly established right. … We also conclude that such conduct would violate clearly established constitutional rights.

Jamie Cunningham v. Cobb County, Georgia

141 F.4th 1201 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jun 23, 2025

, and, even if they had, Cunningham failed to point to any clearly established law that the Officers vio- lated. … did not violate clearly established law.

Al-Amin v. Smith

511 F.3d 1317 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 7, 2008

Al-Amin’s free speech right was not clearly established. … The problem with defendants’ argument is that the “clearly established” inquiry for qualified immunity focuses on the defendant’s conduct and whether given a particular factual situation, a reasonable official would know

Wu v. Thomas

996 F.2d 271 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jul 27, 1993

Defendants argue that, even if plaintiffs could recover for a Title VII violation, JNOV was still proper because Hocutt was entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is no defense to a Title VII action. … “General propositions have little to do with the concept of qualified immunity.” Muhammad v. Wainwright, 839 F.2d 1422, 1424 (11th Cir.1987).

Jack Cummings, Ralph Best, Billy Rodgers, Bruce Henry and Terry M. Walters v. Dekalb County, James Pierce, Cliff Pruett and Richard Conley

24 F.3d 1349 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 11, 1994

Consequently, Conley has violated no “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known” with respect to Walters and is thus entitled to qualified immunity. Harlow v. … to federal qualified immunity from suit.

Beshers v. Harrison

495 F.3d 1260 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 14, 2007

In the alternative, the court concluded that even if a constitutional violation occurred, Harrison would be entitled to qualified immunity because there was no “clearly established” law that would have put Harrison on notice … Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from individual liability as long as their conduct “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable

Montoute v. City of Sebring

114 F.3d 181 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jun 10, 1997

The Qualified Immunity Standard On April 11, 1993, the date Sergeant Carr shot Montoute, the law regarding the use of excessive force to apprehend fleeing suspects was clearly established. … CONCLUSION To defeat Sergeant Carr's qualified immunity defense, Montoute had the burden of establishing that under the circumstances no reasonable officer could have believed that Montoute posed a risk of serious

Rehberg v. Paulk

611 F.3d 828 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jul 16, 2010

Because the federal law was not clearly established, the district court erred in denying qualified immunity to Paulk on Rehberg’s email subpoena claim.17 IV. … immunity because Rehberg’s right to be free from a retaliatory investigation is not clearly established.