Case law

Mohamed Sabra v. Maricopa County Community Coll

44 F.4th 867 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Aug 10, 2022

of qualified immunity, as there was no case law clearly establishing that his conduct was unconstitutional at the time of the alleged offense. … Qualified Immunity “The doctrine of qualified immunity shields officials from civil liability so long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person

Patrick Russell v. Jocelyn Lumitap

31 F.4th 729 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Apr 13, 2022

, but instead argued that they were entitled to qualified immunity because they did not violate Russell’s clearly established constitutional rights on the record taken in the light most favorable to Russell. … An officer is entitled to qualified immunity unless the unlawfulness of his conduct was clearly established at the time that he acted,40 and the law at the time that the defendants acted was different than it is now.

Lee Rice, II v. Dale Morehouse

989 F.3d 1112 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 8, 2021

CLEARLY ESTABLISHED LAW The district court held that even if Morehouse and Shaffer used excessive force, they were entitled to qualified immunity. … MOREHOUSE denying the officer qualified immunity, we said that the “right to be free of excessive force was clearly established” at the time of Emmons’s arrest in 2013. Emmons v. City of Escondido, 716 F.

Robert Reese, Jr. v. County of Sacramento

888 F.3d 1030 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Apr 23, 2018

Rose’s entitlement to qualified immunity therefore turns on whether Reese’s right was clearly established at the time of the incident in 2011. … Ct. at 310 (quotation marks omitted).1 Absent a showing by Reese that the right was clearly established at the time, Rose is entitled to qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment excessive force claim.

Shelly Ioane v. Jean Noll

903 F.3d 929 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Sep 10, 2018

Clearly Established The second part of the qualified immunity test requires us to determine whether, at the time of Agent Noll’s actions in June 2006, the law was clearly established. … But the existence of a constitutional violation alone is insufficient to deny qualified immunity—we must find that the right at issue was “clearly established.”

Jonathan Capp v. County of San Diego

940 F.3d 1046 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Oct 4, 2019

clearly established. … Clearly Established Having determined that Plaintiffs plead a plausible First Amendment retaliation claim, we now move to the second prong of the qualified immunity analysis: whether “the right at issue was ‘clearly

Navarro v. Block

250 F.3d 729 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 11, 2001

After reviewing the legal standards for qualified immunity, the court held: [T]he law is not clearly established that a policy of indemnifying punitive damage awards violates constitutional rights.... … Though much of the analysis under qualified immunity and the merits of a § 1983 claim overlaps, the issue of whether a right is “clearly established” is relevant only to qualified immunity.

Todd D'Braunstein v. Chp

131 F.4th 764 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 12, 2025

But I depart from the majority in its “clearly established’ prong analysis of qualified immunity. … But for qualified immunity, the Supreme Court “has repeatedly told courts . . . not to define clearly established law at a high level of generality.” Kisela v.

Preslie Hardwick v. Marcia Vreeken

844 F.3d 1112 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jan 3, 2017

The panel held that defendants’ case for qualified immunity was not supported by the law or the record. … “Clearly Established” An official “cannot be said to have violated a clearly established right unless the right’s contours were sufficiently definite that any reasonable official in [his or her] shoes would have understood

Shaniz West v. City of Caldwell

931 F.3d 978 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 25, 2019

Principles Governing Qualified Immunity Police officers have qualified immunity for their official conduct unless (1) they violate a federal statutory or constitutional right and (2) that right was clearly established … established case law in qualified immunity cases.

Wilkins v. City of Oakland

350 F.3d 949 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 20, 2003

This general evaluation of the constitutionality of the alleged conduct, however, is not sufficient; we must also determine whether the actions alleged violate a clearly established constitutional right, where ‘clearly established … Even applying the step-by-step qualified immunity analysis outlined in Saucier, there is no question whether the officers’ actions in this case violated clearly established law. They did.

Depaul Industries v. Benjamin Miller

14 F.4th 1021 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Sep 28, 2021

MILLER DISCUSSION Miller is entitled to qualified immunity unless he violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right. … CONCLUSION Miller is entitled to qualified immunity if his conduct did not violate DePaul’s clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.

Estate of Clemente Najera Aguirre v. County of Riverside

131 F.4th 702 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 11, 2025

We have held “that the ‘clearly established’ prong of the qualified immunity analysis is a matter of law to be decided by a judge.” Reese v. Cnty. of Sacramento, 888 F.3d 1030, 1037 (9th Cir. 2018) (quoting Morales v. … Clearly Established Law Assessing qualified immunity after a jury verdict turns on the second, “clearly established” prong, which requires deference to the jury’s view of the facts. See A.D., 712 F.3d at 456.

United States v. Rivera

658 F.3d 1073 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Sep 23, 2011

qualifies as a predi- cate offense. … “Our purpose is to determine whether documentation or judicially noticeable facts clearly establish that the defendant pleaded guilty to facts covered by the predicate offense.” Id. at 968.

Darnell Hines v. Ashrafe Youseff

914 F.3d 1218 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Feb 1, 2019

So for the officials here to lose qualified immunity, it would have to have been clearly established that treating people of all races the same violated the Equal Protection Clause. … So we conclude that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. The rights that the inmates claim were not clearly established when the officials acted. Granting leave to amend would be futile.

Kirstin Johnson v. Kierstie Barr

79 F.4th 996 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 6, 2023

the law did not clearly establish that probable cause was lacking. … law did not clearly establish that probable cause was lacking.

Hughes v. Kisela

862 F.3d 775 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 28, 2016

“In determining whether an officer is entitled to qualified immunity, we consider (1) whether there has been a violation of a constitutional right; and (2) whether that right was clearly established *783 at the time of the … [genuine factual] issues is crucial to a proper determination of the officers’ entitlement to qualified immunity,” and remanded the question whether the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct,

Mattos v. Agarano

661 F.3d 433 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Oct 17, 2011

We now hold that, although Plaintiffs in both cases have alleged constitutional violations, the officer Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims because the law was not clearly established … Defendant Officers Did Not Violate Clearly Established Law When They Tased Mattos We next turn to whether the officers are entitled to qualified immunity for the force they used against Jayzel in August 2006.

Rochelle Scott v. Kyle Smith

109 F.4th 1215 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 30, 2024

However, because that right was not clearly established at the time of the officers’ conduct, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity. … Because the applicable law was clearly established at the time of the incident, we affirm the denial of qualified immunity for Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment claim.

Eng v. Cooley

552 F.3d 1062 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jan 14, 2009

If a plaintiffs constitutional rights were not clearly established at the time of the violation, then qualified immunity should be granted. 2. Whether Eng’s Rights Were Clearly Established a. … established’ to preclude qualified immunity.”