Case law

Green v. Carlson

826 F.2d 647 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 13, 1987

evidence in the record in establishing the specific facts necessary to frame the qualified immunity analysis. … If the undisputed facts, so read, show that the defendant’s conduct, as a matter of law, violated no clearly established legal norms, then the district court must grant the defendant qualified immunity.

Shawn Michael Jones, a Minor by His Father and Next Friend, Terry D. Jones, and Terry D. Jones v. Charles Webb, Individually

45 F.3d 178 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 11, 1995

Webb maintains that he is entitled to qualified immunity because the force he applied was not unreasonable in light of established legal principles. See Elder v. … To determine whether immunity attaches, we must consider whether “ ‘a reasonable officer could have believed that [his] conduct was constitutional in light of the clearly established law and the information [the officer]

Felix Delgado-Brunet v. John L. Clark, Warden, Usp-Marion, Wayne D. Hilliard, Roger Baxter, and Roland Beckman

93 F.3d 339 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 15, 1996

Finally, Hilliard moved for summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity and the lack of any facts tending to show deliberate indifference for purposes of the Eighth Amendment. … The second requires consideration of the standards for Eighth Amendment claims and for assertions of qualified immunity. Our review of both questions is de novo. Farmer v.

Hansen v. Cannon

26 F. App'x 555 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 18, 2001

But qualified immunity does not shield public officials from discovery entirely. … purpose of addressing the issue of qualified immunity.

Shanika Day v. Franklin Wooten

947 F.3d 453 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 10, 2020

Denial of Qualified Immunity We review de novo a district court’s denial of summary judgment on a qualified immunity defense. Rooni v. Biser, 742 F.3d 737, 740 (7th Cir. 2014). … However, the officers did not violate any clearly established right.

Kemp v. Liebel

877 F.3d 346 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 11, 2017

The Relevant “Clearly Established Law” Inquiry To defeat Liebel’s qualified immunity defense, the burden is on plaintiffs to demonstrate that the- alleged violation, of their Free Exercise Clause right was “clearly established … Liebel Did Not Violate Clearly Established Law Under this framework, it is clear that Liebel is protected by qualified immunity.

DuFour-Dowell v. Cogger

152 F.3d 678 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 10, 1998

When a party appeals a denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, we evaluate the record de novo to determine whether we can decide the immunity questions without resolving disputed questions of fact. … Because the facts are in hot dispute, the officers cannot seek pretrial refuge behind a claim Of qualified immunity.

JUNKERT v. Massey

610 F.3d 364 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jun 21, 2010

Massey is entitled to qualified immunity for his conduct in applying for a search warrant. See Hinnen v. Kelly, 992 F.2d 140, 144 (7th Cir. 1993). In this context, the test for qualified immunity comes from Malley v. … We have never clearly held that an affidavit materially similar to Massey’s failed to establish probable cause.

Jason Mucha v. Jutiki Jackson

786 F.3d 1064 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 27, 2015

They rely for their defense of qualified immunity on Wisconsin’s emergency detention statute, Wis. … They were not violating any clearly established law, whether constitutional or statutory, federal or state.

Dominguez v. Hendley

545 F.3d 585 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 30, 2008

It is somewhat unusual to encounter a qualified immunity defense this late in the proceedings, because qualified immunity is normally raised during the pretrial phase so that the public official can avoid the burdens of trial … There was and is no disputing that such conduct violates clearly established constitutional rights. Hendley merely hoped that the jury would credit his version of what happened rather than Dominguez’s.

Paige Ray-Cluney v. Charles Palmer

906 F.3d 540 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 9, 2018

“The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials ‘from liability for civil damages insofar as their con- duct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitu- tional rights of which a reasonable … Under the clearly established prong, “the burden is on plaintiffs to demonstrate the alleged violation of their [consti- tutional] right[s] was ‘clearly established.’” Id.

Reher v. Vivo

656 F.3d 772 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 7, 2011

right at issue was clearly established at the time that the alleged violation occurred. … The relevant inquiry in determining whether a right is clearly established is whether it would have been clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in the situation the officer confronted.

Susan Doxtator v. Erik O'Brien

39 F.4th 852 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 12, 2022

But the Su- preme Court itself has held that Garner is “cast at a high level of generality” and therefore cannot clearly establish rights for the purposes of qualified immunity, except in the most obvi- ous cases. … Furthermore, we hold that O’Brien is entitled to qualified immunity because the right he is alleged to have violated was not “clearly established” at the time.

David Velez v. Michael Johnson and Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation

395 F.3d 732 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Feb 11, 2005

Johnson appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. … Velez has also met the second Saucier requirement that the constitutional right be clearly established.

Cornelius Marshall v. Wilbert Allen, Richard Anderson, and Anthony J. Fusco, Jr.

984 F.2d 787 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Feb 25, 1993

If it were not clearly established that their conduct violated the law at the time the officials allegedly acted, then they are entitled to qualified immunity. Siegert v. … The only one of the defendant’s claims that is properly before this court is whether they were entitled to qualified immunity because it was not clearly established that Mr.

Ann Erwin, Dwight Bleke, Richard Moeller v. Richard M. Daley, Glen Carr, Kelly Welsh

92 F.3d 521 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 18, 1996

To the contrary, qualified immunity shields government officials who are performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … qualified immunity defense is designed to spare the defendants.

Larry Pounds v. David Griepenstroh, Hugh Barclay, and Louis Lubbehusen

970 F.2d 338 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 6, 1992

A right is “clearly established” for qualified immunity purposes only where “the contours of the right [are] sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates the right,” and “in … was clearly established.

Jerome Weinmann v. Patrick McClone

787 F.3d 444 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 27, 2015

constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged viola- tion. … B We now turn to whether the right Jerome is asserting was clearly established at the time of the events.

Gerald R. Wollin v. Bruce Gondert, Deputy Sheriff, Joseph Seidel, Deputy Sheriff and Jefferson County, Wisconsin

192 F.3d 616 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 2, 1999

“Thus ... a qualified immunity analysis entails a purely objective inquiry to determine whether at the time of the alleged illegal act, the right asserted by the plaintiff was clearly established in the particular factual … Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects government officials from liability for civil damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”

Kathleen Hayes v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 28, 2026

This is “[b]ecause qualified immunity pro- tects the public officer from the expense and distraction of having to stand trial when the conduct in question did not vi- olate clearly established law.” Bayon v. … Although we decide the issue at the second step of the qualified immunity analysis (did case law clearly establish Lyons would be violating Hayes’s constitutional right?)