Case law

Roger Knell v. Peter B. Bensinger

522 F.2d 720 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 26, 1975

The Supreme Court’s most recent consideration of the concept of the qualified immunity of state executive officers is set forth in Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308 , 95 S.Ct. 992 , 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975). … \While effective access to the courts was'1 clearly established as a principle of due process by 1971, and defendant’s policy necessarily abridged that right during plaintiff’s 15-day commitment to isolation, the issue of

Lenz v. Winburn

51 F.3d 1540 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 12, 1995

To strip an official of qualified immunity, "the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been 'clearly established' in a more particularized, and hence more relevant, sense...." Anderson v. … Qualified immunity analysis asks the objective question whether a reasonable officer could have believed his conduct lawful under clearly established law in light of the information the officer possessed.

Elizabeth Doyle v. Camelot Care Centers, Incorporated, a Delaware Corporation, Jess McDonald Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, in His Individual Capacity, Edward Cotton, Director of the Division of Child Protection for Dcfs, in His Individual Capacity, Pearce Konold v. Central Baptist Children's Home & Family Services, a Not-For-Profit Corporation, Hudelson Baptist Children's Home, a Not-For-Profit Corporation, and Jess McDonald Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (Dcfs), in His Individual Capacity

305 F.3d 603 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 30, 2002

Konold's claims that Cavarretta, Lee TT and Valmonte clearly established the unconstitutionality of the credible evidence standard. … that the conduct of the DCFS employees in this case violated clearly established rights.

Cyneth K. Dahm v. William F. Flynn, Jr., in Both His Individual and Official Capacities

60 F.3d 253 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 24, 1995

Officials are immune from civil damages, however, if their actions were “objee- *258 tively reasonable, meaning that [if] ‘their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Conclusion Flynn enjoys qualified immunity for his decision to reorganize Dahm’s job responsibilities.

Sandy Lewis v. James O'grady, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, 1

853 F.2d 1366 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 21, 1988

Wade, 804 F.2d at 70 ; Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 520 , “[I]f there are issues of disputed fact upon which the question of immunity turns, or if it is clear that the defendant’s conduct did violate clearly established norms the … based on the qualified immunity of the defendants.

Richard Reynolds v. Dawn Jamison and Christopher Darr

488 F.3d 756 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jun 8, 2007

Darr argued that he was entitled to qualified immunity. … Regardless of these additional arguments, the undisputed facts clearly demonstrate that Officer Darr had probable cause to arrest Reynolds on July 12, 2004 and thus is entitled to qualified immunity.

Edward Joseph X. Chapman v. George W. Pickett, Warden, U.S. Penitentiary, Marion, Defendants

801 F.2d 912 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 25, 1986

In 1978, this circuit rejected defendants’ qualified immunity argument and concluded: There can be no serious contention with the fact that the right to be free from disproportionate punishment has long been ‘clearly established … That case articulated an objective standard for determining qualified immunity.

Leon Bates v. J.W. Jean

745 F.2d 1146 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 12, 1984

Under the doctrine of qualified immunity the central question is whether the conduct complained of violated clearly established constitutional or statutory rights. Id. No other circumstances are relevant. Davis v. … Because the law proscribing abuse of prisoners was clearly established as of that date, following the dictates of Harlow v.

Steven Lee Ellis v. Peter A. Wynalda, in His Individual Capacity as a Police Officer for the City of Indianapolis

999 F.2d 243 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 15, 1993

We must determine “whether, at the time of the alleged seizure, a reasonable officer could have believed that [the defendant officer’s] conduct was.constitutional ‘in light of the clearly established law and the information … Therefore, the doctrine of qualified immunity still serves an important purpose in cases of alleged excessive force. .

C.A. Brokaw v. Mercer County, James Brokaw, Weir Brokaw

235 F.3d 1000 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 19, 2000

child is nebulous at best, social workers and other state actors who cause a child’s removal are entitled to qualified immunity because the alleged constitutional violation will rarely — if ever — be clearly established. … immunity, based on a claim that the right to family integrity was not clearly established, will fail.

Charles E. Lockert v. Gordon H. Faulkner

843 F.2d 1015 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 26, 1988

The magistrate reasoned that a prisoner’s constitutional right to marry was not clearly established when the defendants denied Lockert’s requests to marry Samplawski. 3 Therefore, the defendants were immune from damages under … However, Turner does not affect the magistrate’s conclusion that a prisoner’s right to marry was not clearly established when the defendants denied Lockert’s marriage request. 5 .

BARICHELLO v. McDONALD

98 F.3d 948 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 16, 1996

On July 26, 1993, the defendants moved for partial summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity. … Doe by Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 318 , 113 S.Ct. 2637, 2642 , 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993), it is sufficient for the purposes of qualified immunity to conclude that no relevant constitutional right was clearly established. 20 Counts II

Sain, Timothy v. Wood, Raymond

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 9, 2008

Wood had disqualified himself from immunity by violating a clearly established constitu- tional right. Because the issue of Dr. … Sain’s clearly-established con- stitutional rights.

Burton v. Downey

805 F.3d 776 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 8, 2015

immunity because their actions were consistent with clearly established law. … , and (2) whether that constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.”

Scoby v. Neal

981 F.2d 286 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 8, 1992

established at the time. … Therefore both Circuits upheld qualified immunity.

Joseph Ferguson v. Ryan McDonough

13 F.4th 574 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 8, 2021

Ct. 577, 590 (2018) (“The ‘clearly established’ standard also requires that the legal principle clearly prohibit the officer’s conduct in the particular circumstances before him.”); Gant, 924 F.3d at 451 (“Officer Hartman … claims that he is entitled to qualified immunity because his ac- tions did not violate Gant’s constitutional rights and, even if they did, those rights were not clearly established on or before August 23, 2015.

Lott v. Pfizer, Inc.

492 F.3d 789 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jun 25, 2007

The qualified immunity doctrine assumes that state officials are aware of existing case law and holds officials liable only if they violate clearly established and particularized rights. See Brosseau v. … As discussed above, Martin’s, objectively reasonable standard—like the qualified immunity doctrine’s objectively reasonable standard—also balances competing interests.

Monfils v. Taylor

165 F.3d 511 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 23, 1998

Accordingly, the issue before us is a legal one: whether Taylor’s conduct violates a constitutional right which was clearly established in 1992. … Taylor is not and never was entitled to qualified immunity against this claim.

Robert Siebert and Pamela Siebert v. David Severino

256 F.3d 648 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 6, 2001

Qualified immunity protects “government officials performing discretionary functions ... from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of … In either case, this precludes a defense of qualified immunity. Cf.

Delgado, Octavio v. Jones, Arthur L.

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Mar 8, 2002

Moreover, in the context of a qualified immunity defense, "The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the existence of a clearly established constitutional right." Donovan, 17 F.3d at 951-52 (citing Radovich v. … After establishing that the plaintiff has adequately alleged a violation of a constitutional right, the second level of inquiry in a qualified immunity analysis involves whether the law was "clearly established" at the time