Case law

Katie Joseph v. John Doe

981 F.3d 319 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Nov 20, 2020

But, to overcome qualified immunity, the plaintiff’s version of those disputed facts must also constitute a violation of clearly established law. … I also agree with the majority that an absence of clearly established law entitles the “bystander officers” to qualified immunity.

Burge v. Pearl River County, Mississippi

103 F. App'x 823 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 15, 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 or constitutional rights of which … established” for qualified-immunity purposes.

Brandon Backe v. Steven LeBlanc

691 F.3d 645 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 16, 2012

A district court’s denial of qualified immunity to public officials is exactly such an order. … Consequently, this court has established a careful procedure under which a district court may defer its qualified immunity ruling if further factual development is necessary to ascertain the availability of that defense.

Brumfield v. Hollins

551 F.3d 322 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 2, 2008

Analysis “Qualified immunity protects public officials from suit unless their conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right.” Mace v. City of Palestine, 333 F.3d 621, 623 (5th Cir. 2003). … In the qualified immunity analysis, “[t]he subjective deliberate indifference standard serves only to demonstrate the clearly established law in effect at the time of the incident . . .

Carlos Samuel v. Morris Holmes, Maudelle Davis-Cade, J. Berengher Brechtel, Gail Moore Glapion, Carolyn Green Ford and Cheryl Q. Cramer

138 F.3d 173 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 31, 1998

Fitzgerald, the Supreme Court held that qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from individual liability for civil damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established … The first question is whether the plaintiff has alleged the violation of a clearly established statutory or constitutional right.

Brown v. Nationsbank Corp.

188 F.3d 579 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 8, 1999

engaged in conduct that violated the clearly- established law.” … Qualified immunity Although neither the pleadings, the district court’s order nor the briefs develop the analysis, it is obvious that defendants have a qualified immunity defense to the Bivens claims.

Cantu v. Rocha

77 F.3d 795 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 28, 1996

Ct. 2727, 2738 (1982) (whether an official is entitled to qualified 17 immunity depends on the "objective legal reasonableness" of the official's action as measured by clearly established … CONCLUSION Defendants Rocha and Salazar are entitled to qualified immunity from Cantu's federal law claims because Cantu failed to alleged violation of a clearly established federal right.

Lewis v. Walley

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 27, 2026

The district court denied defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings for the Fourth Amendment search claim, thus denying Walley’s defense of qualified immunity (“QI”). … Qualified Immunity “The doctrine of [QI] protects public officials from liability for civil damages ‘insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statu- tory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable

Erin Lincoln v. City of Colleyville, Texas

874 F.3d 833 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 31, 2017

Although Erin identifies the second step in the qualified immunity analysis, it is not clear that her contention was that the right to be free from excessive force was clearly established in this case. … Accordingly, Erin waived argument as to the clearly established law prong and thus cannot overcome qualified immunity. 92 Regardless, we cannot on this record conclude that Erin 89 See Melear v.

Kokesh v. Curlee

14 F.4th 382 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 21, 2021

This is true “even when . . . a court decides only the clearly-established prong of the [qualified immunity] standard.” Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U.S. 650, 657 (2014). … B Turning to qualified immunity’s second inquiry—whether a constitutional right was clearly established—we did more in Turner than simply declare that the right to record police exists.

Sims v. Griffin

35 F.4th 945 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 1, 2022

We have explained the qualified-immunity inquiry many times. … Powell clearly established Qualls’s rights.

Wooley v. City Of Baton Rouge

206 F.3d 574 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 25, 2000

Morris involved a claim of qualified immunity for events that occurred in 1992. Our consideration therein focused on the law clearly established in 1992. 53 Kiser v. Garret, 67 F.3d 1166 (5th Cir. 1995); Doe v. … The district court concluded that the officer was not entitled to qualified immunity because the plaintiffs had alleged a clearly established denial of due process. 55 Smith v.

Carrie Sama v. Edward Hannigan

669 F.3d 585 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 3, 2012

Callahan, we may analyze and resolve this issue under the “clearly established” prong of the qualified immunity test. 20 Because Sama did not meet her burden of demonstrating Benoit’s and Hannigan’s conduct was not objectively … Their motion for summary judgment asserted that "[t]he bifurcated test for qualified immunity requires examination of (a) whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established constitutional right; and (b

Arthur Jackson v. State of Mississippi

644 F.2d 1142 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 14, 1981

We also expounded the two alternative means by which a plaintiff can overcome the qualified immunity defense. … If the plaintiff can show that he had a clearly established constitutional right that the defendants knew or should have known of, and that they knew or should have known that their conduct violated that right, the immunity

Brenda Mason v. City of Lafayette

929 F.3d 762 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 17, 2019

Ct. 548, 551 (2017) (to overcome qualified immunity, there must be “clearly established law” that is “particularized to the facts of the case.”) (citations omitted). … And qualified immunity must be rejected where the facts found by the jury demonstrate not only a constitutional violation but also that the law was clearly established such that the officer’s conduct was objectively unreasonable

Rogers Vann v. City of Southaven

884 F.3d 307 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 5, 2018

“A qualified immunity defense alters the usual summary judgment burden of proof. … Under these circumstances, Jones’s use of force did not violate clearly established law.

Simmons v. City of Paris Texas

378 F.3d 476 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 20, 2004

On an appeal of an interlocutory order denying a claim of qualified immunity, our review is unusually circumscribed. … Because defendants do not contest that this qualifies as a clearly established constitutional norm, we can assume, and so hold, that it qualifies and proceed to the question of whether there is conflicting evidence that

Michael Melton v. Hunt County

875 F.3d 256 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Nov 13, 2017

Second, the plaintiff must show that “the right was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the challenged conduct.” Id. … clearly established as to the specific facts of the case.”

Jay T. Brown v. Deputy Constable John Glossip

878 F.2d 871 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 4, 1989

At the time Brown filed his complaint, the law of our Circuit pertaining to the use of excessive force by police officers was clearly established. Shillingford v. … In overcoming the qualified immunity defense, it is not enough for the plaintiff to allege that the government official violated a clearly established right in the generalized sense for that “would ... convert the rule of

Randy Cole v. Michael Hunter

935 F.3d 444 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 20, 2019

Garner does not formulate “clearly established law” with the degree of specificity required by the Supreme Court’s decisions on qualified immunity. … Ct. at 1776 (“Qualified immunity is no immunity at all if ‘clearly established’ law can simply be defined as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.”); Wilson v.