Case law

Reynaldo Ramirez v. Jim Wells County, Texas

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 24, 2013

Because there was no false arrest, no constitutional violation occurred, and, accordingly, we have no occasion to reach the part of the qualified immunity analysis that asks whether the law was clearly established. … We have explained the ‘clearly established’ prong as follows: Qualified immunity should not be denied unless the law is clear in the more particularized sense that reasonable officials should be “on notice

Reynaldo Ramirez v. Jim Wells County, Texas

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 30, 2013

Because there was no false arrest, no constitutional violation occurred, and, accordingly, we have no occasion to reach the part of the qualified immunity analysis that asks whether the law was clearly established. … We have explained the ‘clearly established’ prong as follows: Qualified immunity should not be denied unless the law is clear in the more particularized sense that reasonable officials should be “on notice

David A. Connelly v. Comptroller of the Currency

876 F.2d 1209 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 7, 1989

We must address in turn whether any of these claims rests upon such clearly established law that the defendants have forfeited their qualified immunity from suit. … established as to abrogate the defendants’ qualified immunity.

32 Fair empl.prac.cas. 747, 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,753 Lino Martinez, Cross-Appellant v. El Paso County, Cross-Appellee

710 F.2d 1102 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 1, 1983

The court below correctly concluded that plaintiff established a prima facie case of discrimination. … The foregoing excerpt clearly reveals the error in defendant’s argument.

Spikes v. McVea

8 F.4th 428 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 11, 2021

immunity because their actions did not violate clearly established law, given that the facts of this case are no more egregious than in Estelle v. … Smith, Circuit Judge, dissenting: The majority denies officials qualified immunity (“QI”) in defiance of Supreme Court precedent, which clearly establishes that their actions were constitutional.

Roque v. Harvel

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 2, 2021

were clearly established at the time of the violation “such that the officer was on notice of the unlawfulness of his or her conduct.”6 The unique nature and purpose of qualified immunity affects both our jurisdiction … immunity unless his “actions were objectively unreasonable in light of clearly established law at the time of the” shooting.31 The critical question when ascertaining the clearly established law is “whether the state of

Russell L. Streetman v. Lt. Gary Jordan, Etc.

918 F.2d 555 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jan 4, 1991

We address the merits of Streetman’s second notice of appeal, which correctly identifies the order appealed. 1 Qualified Immunity: A Pleading Problem Qualified immunity cloaks a police officer from personal liability for … discretionary acts which do not violate well-established law.

Lionel Alexander v. City of Round Rock

854 F.3d 298 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 18, 2017

It therefore did not reach the qualified immunity issue. 1. … We hold that Alexander’s claim on this point cannot overcome the officers’ qualified immunity, because “it was not clearly established that an individual has a First Amendment right to refuse to answer an officer’s questions

Sorey v. Kellett

849 F.2d 960 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 20, 1988

Sec. 1291 , however, is clearly a matter of federal law; state procedural law is not directly controlling. Budinich v. … The court held that the commissioners were protected by qualified immunity because they had "no role in the roommate selection or supervision of 'clients'," but merely exercised discretionary authority over the establishment

Porter v. Epps

659 F.3d 440 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 28, 2011

in light of clearly established law at the time of the violation. … We further noted that “the subjective deliberate indifference standard serves only to demonstrate the clearly established law in effect at the time of the incident.” Id. Here, we are concerned with qualified immunity.

Nichols v. Lewis Grocer

138 F.3d 563 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 3, 1998

Louisiana Office of Community Services, 47 F.3d 1438, 1444 (5th Cir. 1995) (“A factfinder can infer pretext if it finds that the employee was ‘clearly better qualified’ (as opposed to merely better or as qualified) than … Assuming arguendo that Nichols was indeed prepared to handle the rigors of the night perishables supervisor position, her listed “qualifications” nevertheless do not establish her to be ‘clearly better qualified’ for it

Rochon v. City of Angola,et al

122 F.3d 319 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 24, 1997

The first step is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established constitutional right. … If the court finds no constitutional injury, it need not address the issue of qualified immunity. Quives v. Campbell, 934 F.2d 668, 671 (5th Cir.1991).

Roger Poole v. City of Shreveport

691 F.3d 624 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 16, 2012

Marcantel, 567 F.3d 156, 169 (5th Cir.2009) (per curiam) (explaining that an arrestee had a clearly established right to be free from excessive force and that it was clearly established that the force officers could use in … Within this qualified immunity inquiry, the parties dispute only whether Stalnaker’s and Creighton’s respective uses of force were clearly excessive and clearly unreasonable. These inquiries are often intertwined.

Simpson v. Hines

903 F.2d 400 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 19, 1990

Qualified Immunity. … The doctrine of qualified immunity shields a police officer from liability for civil damages when a reasonable officer could have believed that the challenged conduct did not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional

Byrd v. Harrell

48 F.4th 343 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Aug 31, 2022

When a government official has asserted qualified immunity, “the burden shifts to the plaintiff to ‘rebut the defense by establishing that the official’s allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established law … Ct. 548, 552 (2017) (noting that the purpose of qualified immunity’s clearly-established prong is to “giv[e] fair and clear warning to officers” about what conduct will expose them to liability).

Fisher v. Moore

73 F.4th 367 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 14, 2023

The school officials sought dismissal of the § 1983 claim on qualified-immunity grounds, arguing that the state-created danger doctrine was not clearly established in this circuit when the underlying events occurred. … “ha[s] not demonstrated a clearly established substantive due process right on the facts [she] allege[s].”14 The district court thus erred in denying qualified immunity to Appellants.

Christian Cutler v. Stephen F. Austin State Univ

767 F.3d 462 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 15, 2014

Cutler insists that the district court correctly stated the clearly established law. Yet, the district court relies on a single case for establishing a clearly established right. See Cutler v. … Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 269–71 (1964), for the clearly established law.

Wren v. Towe

130 F.3d 1154 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 30, 1997

Qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from personal civil liability "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … There is a two-step analysis for determining the existence of qualified immunity. First, has a clearly established constitutional right been violated? Mangieri v.

Joseph M. Schultea, Sr. v. David Robert Wood, David Robert Wood, Homer Ford, W.F. "Slim" Plagens and Warren K. Driver

47 F.3d 1427 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 9, 1995

Justice Scalia’s opinion for the Court turned to the element of “clearly established law.” … applicable law is and whether it was clearly established when the action occurred.

Vander Zee v. Reno

73 F.3d 1365 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Feb 2, 1996

established as to overcome the defense of qualified immunity. … established constitutional right which would overcome a qualified immunity defense.