Case law

Tate v. United States

72 F. App'x 265 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jul 8, 2003

The putative next friend must clearly establish “the propriety of his status” in order to “justify the jurisdiction of the court.” Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 164 . … Cockrell and Young did not satisfy the requirements to qualify for next Mend status.

Mark Crawford v. Donavin Geiger

656 F. App'x 190 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Aug 11, 2016

Legal Standards: Qualified Immunity and the Fourth Amendment “The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials ‘from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly … immunity analysis, “[t]he dispositive question is whether the violative nature of particular conduct is clearly established.”

Nikos Kidis v. Jean Reid

976 F.3d 708 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Sep 25, 2020

Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982) (holding that government officials are generally entitled to immunity from civil damages as long as they did not “violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights”); see … ] from raising the qualified immunity defense on appeal from a final judgment.”).

Hall v. Tollett

128 F.3d 418 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Oct 22, 1997

Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, “government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … Whether the government official “is protected by qualified immunity turns on ‘the objective legal reasonableness’ of the action, assessed in the light of the legal rules that were ‘clearly established’ at the time the action

Montaz Lee Kennedy v. India Smith

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Apr 20, 2026

If the defendant properly raises qualified immunity, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to satisfy the two-prong test by showing “that (1) the defendant violated a constitutional right and (2) that right was clearly established … Perhaps it wasn’t clearly established that the plaintiff’s speech was protected, or maybe it wasn’t clearly established that the defendant’s conduct amounted to an adverse action.

Livermore v. Lubelan

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Feb 7, 2007

alleged by the plaintiff constitute a violation of clearly established law.”). … To defeat qualified immunity, the plaintiff must show that the defendant had notice that the manner in which the force was used had been previously proscribed: [T]here is no doubt that [precedent] clearly establishes

Pagan v. Fruchey

492 F.3d 766 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jun 29, 2007

A judicial pronouncement that an ordinance is consistent with common sense hardly establishes that it is so. B. … The district court, in its order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants, determined that Chief Fruchey was entitled to qualified immunity.

Victoria Cunningham v. Dep't of Children's Servs.

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jan 13, 2021

The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person … To defeat the qualified immunity defense, the plaintiff is required to plead facts demonstrating a violation of a constitutional right that is clearly established in a “particularized sense.” Johnson v.

Nina Yoder v. University of Louisville

526 F. App'x 537 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 15, 2013

The qualified-immunity doctrine shields government officials performing discretionary functions from civil liability unless their conduct violates clearly established rights. Barker v. … clearly established.

Key v. Grayson

179 F.3d 996 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jun 9, 1999

Overview 10 The defense of qualified immunity grants government officials engaged in discretionary activities immunity from individual liability for civil damages unless their conduct violates "clearly established statutory … established prior to 1996 in order to preclude a finding of qualified immunity.

Mark Bambach v. Gina Moegle

92 F.4th 615 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Feb 8, 2024

The court’s analysis of the state defendants’ qualified-immunity defense, however, failed to assess whether those constitutional rights were clearly established at the time of the violations. … clearly established law).

Grose v. Caruso

284 F. App'x 279 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jul 1, 2008

a violation of clearly established law.” … When constitutional violations are not clearly established, state officials are entitled to qualified immunity. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 , 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151 , 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001).

Generis Ent., LLC v. Mary Anne Donley

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Feb 19, 2026

Trooper Bitner moved to dismiss Generis’ complaint, arguing, in relevant part, that qualified immunity shielded him from suit because the liquor inspection search was not pretextual and no clearly established law placed … The district denied Trooper Bitner’s demand for qualified immunity, 3 finding that Generis had plausibly alleged a pretextual use of inspection authority for criminal investigation and that this violated clearly established

Nikos Kidis v. Jean Reid

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Sep 25, 2020

Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982) (holding that government officials are generally entitled to immunity from civil damages as long as they did not “violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights”); see … ] from raising the qualified immunity defense on appeal from a final judgment.”).

Donnetta Smith v. Stoneburner

716 F.3d 926 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 10, 2013

In this qualified immunity case, as in all qualified immunity cases, two questions arise: whether the officers violated the Smiths’ constitutional rights, and if so whether those rights were clearly established at the time … Two appellate decisions, it is true, granted qualified immunity to officers on not- clearly-established grounds, but they each involved a fact pattern at least one prominent step removed from this one. In Malachowski v.

Williams v. Kentucky

24 F.3d 1526 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 26, 1994

qualified immunity issues. … Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity on Williams’ First Amendment claim. It was clearly established that the speech Williams cites as the reason for her demotion addressed matters of public concern.

Thomas Cress v. Carmen Palmer, Warden, Riverside Correctional Facility

484 F.3d 844 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Apr 5, 2007

The district court concluded that because the Supreme Court has not clearly established that post-conviction destruction is a due process violation, the petitioner’s claim in this regard could was not cognizable on federal … Clearly, it is a burden that the petitioner in this case has not been able to carry successfully. III.

Dillon Burnett v. Josh Griffith

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 12, 2022

Whether Sergeant Griffith is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil-damages liability for violations of “clearly established statutory or constitutional … established” prong of the qualified-immunity analysis.

Back v. Schrader

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Aug 11, 2008

But the court denied the defendants’ request for qualified immunity on Back’s political-affiliation claims, holding that Back had adequately alleged a clearly established constitutional violation. … P. 12(b)(6), so we review an assertion of qualified immunity to determine only whether the complaint “adequately alleges the commission of acts that violated clearly established law,” Mitchell v.

Shreve v. Jessamine County Fiscal Court

453 F.3d 681 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jul 7, 2006

Shreve has provided sufficient evidence of a violation of her clearly established constitutional right against the use of excessive police force in the course of arrest, and qualified immunity is not warranted under Saucier … Moreover, because Sixth Circuit case law supports Shreve’s right not to be struck and jumped on gratuitously, qualified immunity is not available for lack of a “clearly established” right. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 200.