Case law

Scott v. Moore

680 F.2d 979 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 1, 1982

The facts of this case clearly embody four of the five elements essential to a successful 1985(3) claim. … The Republicans’ attempt to establish an extended new order had met with pervasive regional hostility.

United States v. Ronald W. Plewniak

947 F.2d 1284 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 2, 1991

Lentz testified with immunity before the grand jury quite a while ago. THE COURT: Counsel, let me stop you. … The district court found that the record in this case clearly established that Mr. Plewniak was not entitled to relief and that an evidentiary hearing was therefore unnecessary.

Casper v. Lago Vista, City of

177 F.3d 977 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 18, 1999

Qualified immunity analysis asks first, whether the plaintiff alleges a violation of clearly established law; if the plaintiff has, an officer has qualified immunity if it is objectively reasonable … that the officer’s conduct did not violate clearly established law as of the time of the incident.

General Electric Credit Corporation v. T. R. Grubbs, D/B/A T. R. Grubbs Tire & Appliance

447 F.2d 286 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 22, 1971

In sum § 2410 waives sovereign immunity and allows the United States to be named a defendant in an interpleader suit with respect to real or personal property on which the United States has or claims a mortgage or other lien … Nor does Grubbs qualify for the second type of adversity which has been found to justify interpleader relief.

Columbia Gas Development Corp. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pogo Producing Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

651 F.2d 1146 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 31, 1981

Larionoff, 431 U.S. 864, 872 , 97 S.Ct. 2150, 2155 , 53 L.Ed.2d 48 (1977), clearly unreasonable, Homan & Crimen, Inc. v. … The establishment of ceilings, including the establishment of a particular ceiling among a choice of applicable ceilings, does not constitute authority to collect the ceiling price. See Pennzoil, 645 F.2d at 379-80 .

Dearmore v. City of Garland

519 F.3d 517 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 10, 2008

Under these facts, this Court had no need to choose between the tests of the other circuits because the plaintiffs clearly failed to qualify under any of them. See id. at 741. … In its order, the district court clearly informed the City that certain provisions of its Ordinance violated the Fourth Amendment, stating: Inspections and searches of unoccupied property would clearly infringe

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. State of Tex.

36 F.3d 1325 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 24, 1994

state's immunity. … A state's sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment includes immunity from suits brought by Indian tribes. Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 111 S. Ct. 2578 (1991).

Kelly v. Sheriff's Department

113 F. App'x 582 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 18, 2004

Government officials performing discretionary functions are protected from civil liability under the doctrine of qualified immunity if their conduct violates no “clearly established statutory … right, and in thus granting summary judgment based on Gresham’s qualified immunity.

Buchicchio v. LeBlanc

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 29, 2024

immunity involves answering two questions: (1) “whether the officer violated a constitutional right,” and (2) “whether the ‘right at issue was “clearly established” at the time of [the] alleged misconduct.’” 13 These questions … Second, as this Court determined in Parker, this right was clearly established at the time of LeBlanc’s alleged misconduct. Specifically, in the 2011 case of Porter v.

John Luera v. Kleberg County, Texas

460 F. App'x 447 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 16, 2012

Next, Luera argues that summary judgment was premature because there remained unresolved questions whether Cavazos was entitled to qualified immunity.2 The qualified immunity analysis is a two-step inquiry. … reasonable in the light of clearly established law Id.

Palmer v. Flaggman

93 F.3d 196 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 3, 1996

This certification ... shall conclusively establish scope of office or employment for purposes of removal. 3 Id. 2 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a … Graham was clearly not acting as an independent contractor of the United States government, and Graham's status as employee or independent contractor of NCH is irrelevant to his Westfall Act certification.

Reynolds v. Wood County

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 1, 2023

“Qualified immunity protects officers from suit unless their conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right.” Mace v. City of Palestine, 333 F.3d 621, 623 (5th Cir. 2003). … We therefore focus our analysis on whether the alleged violated right was clearly established. The district court determined there was insufficient clarity to deny qualified immunity.

Lifecare Hospitals, Inc. v. Health Plus of Louisiana, Inc.

418 F.3d 436 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 20, 2005

Under the plan, Cust om-Bilt established a group health plan for its employees and their dependents and Health Plus, through its contracted physicians and hospitals, arranged for medical services to be provided to Custom-Bilt … He was hospitalized at the Willis-Knighton Medical Center and later diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a life-threatening disorder, considered a medical-emergency, in which the body’s immune system attacks part of

Johnson v. Louisiana Department of Education

330 F.3d 362 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 5, 2003

the one that must be cleared to establish “knowing waiver” of sovereign immunity under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. 11 *368 As the College Savings Bank Court explained, statutes that impute waiver of sovereign immunity … Rather, the only proper inquiry in either case is straightforward: Is the Rehabilitation Act’s clearly stated condition that a state not assert sovereign immunity coercive? It obviously is not.

Comichi v. Pethel

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 23, 2026

Qualified immunity involves two inquiries: first, whether the officer violated a constitutional right; and second, whether that right “was ‘clearly established’ at the time of [the] alleged misconduct.” Morrow v. … “[I]t is beyond question that [it is] a clearly established constitutional right to be free from arrest absent an arrest warrant or probable cause.” Freeman, 483 F.3d at 411; see Turner, 848 F.3d at 695.

Brooks v. George County, MS

77 F.3d 834 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 3, 1996

Sheriff Howell's Qualified Immunity We now consider whether Sheriff Howell is qualifiedly immune from liability in his individual capacity. … Sheriff Howell thus is not entitled to qualified immunity from individual liability on this due process claim. c.

Robert McClure v. Kenneth Foster

465 F. App'x 373 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 29, 2012

unreasonable in light of clearly established law and, thus, the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. … The burden was on McClure to rebut the defendants’ qualified-immunity defense “by establishing a genuine fact issue as to whether the [defendants’] allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established law.” Brown v.

Tommy Sanchez, Jr. v. Daniel Edwards

433 F. App'x 272 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 20, 2011

does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” … Thus, the qualified-immunity inquiry has two prongs: (1) whether an official’s conduct violated a constitutional right of the plaintiff, and (2) whether the right was clearly established at the time of the violation.

Rincon v. City of Laredo

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 25, 2025

We therefore agree that Elizondo and Fernandez are entitled to qualified immunity for searching Rincon’s wallet. … The next step in the qualified-immunity analysis is whether the plaintiff has shown that the right violated was “clearly established” at the time of the challenged conduct. Morgan, 659 F.3d at 371.

Guzman v. Sturgis

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 14, 2023

violated clearly established law.” … To overcome an assertion of qualified immunity, the plaintiff must show that (1) the defendant’s conduct violated a constitutional right and (2) the right was clearly established when the violation occurred.