Case law

People of the State of California v. Express Scripts, Inc.

139 F.4th 763 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jun 2, 2025

Appeals from denials of qualified immunity, absolute immunity, sovereign immunity, and immunity under the Double Jeopardy Clause all immediately divest the district court of jurisdiction over the entire case against defendants … because these immunities represent an entitlement to avoid litigation altogether.

United States v. Awkard

597 F.2d 667 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Apr 23, 1979

Kroger was qualified as an internationally respect¿cTauthority on medical hypnosis, and he explained the techniques used in hypnosis. … Fair-child Hiller Corp., supra, as requiring the expert testimony to establish admissibility.

Navarro v. City and County of San Francisco

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 13, 2025

COURT OF APPEALS Because I would reverse and grant Officer Jeffrey Lubey qualified immunity, I respectfully dissent. 1. … As to Anthony Navarro’s Fourth Amendment excessive force claim, we should have reversed the denial of qualified immunity based on the uncontested facts in the record. See Rodriguez v.

Matthew Beckstrand v. Thomas Read

563 F. App'x 533 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 14, 2014

The two-pronged qualified immunity inquiry asks (1) whether “the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right” and (2) whether “the right was clearly established” at the time of the alleged misconduct. Alston v. … “The plaintiff bears the burden to show that the contours of the right were clearly established” at the time of the alleged misconduct. Clairmont v. Sound Mental Health, 632 F.3d 1091, 1109 (9th Cir. 2011).

Thomas Goldstein v. City of Long Beach

715 F.3d 750 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 8, 2013

The prosecutorial immunity inquiry focuses on “policy considerations which compel civil immunity,” Imbler v. … ] that the functions for which a prosecutor may obtain absolute, as opposed to qualified, immunity parallel those for which a district attorney represents the state, as opposed to the county.”

Clara Louie, Representative for Wayne Louie, Deceased v. United States

776 F.2d 819 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 13, 1985

The government argues that since the sovereign immunity of the State of Washington was abrogated in 1961 6 and since the sovereign immunity of political subdivisions and municipalities was abrogated in *825 1967, 7 the state … This underlying liability is clearly equivalent to the liability of “a private person or corporation.” RCW 4.96.010.

United States v. Washington

233 F.2d 811 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 14, 1956

. § 1345, but the assertion of jurisdiction is challenged at the outset with the claim that, by virtue of sovereign immunity, the District Court had no jurisdiction over the person of the State of Washington. … the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions, suits or proceedings commenced by the United States * * * ” The suit at bar to quiet title in the Government in trust for certain Indian wards is clearly

Cunningham v. Gates

312 F.3d 1148 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jan 14, 2003

motion, but denied summary judgment for the others, rejecting their qualified immunity claims and concluding that Heck did not apply. 21 The City Officials and the officers filed an interlocutory appeal. … We then reversed, on qualified immunity grounds, the denial of summary judgment to some of the non-shooting officers, the council members, the City attorneys, and an SIS supervisor. Id. at 1286-94.

Clemente v. United States

766 F.2d 1358 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 24, 1985

The Supreme Court has recognized that “willfulness” may be qualified “by a concurrent attempt on defendants’ part to challenge the order by motion to vacate or other appropriate procedures.” … First, the rationale for abrogating municipal immunity in Owen is simply inapposite.

Alex Bakalian v. Central Bank Rep. of Turkey

932 F.3d 1229 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Aug 8, 2019

That objective is ill-served by continuing a difficult exploration—in the context of a clearly time-barred action—about whether there is a “genocidal takings” 14 BAKALIAN V. … CENTRAL BANK OF TURKEY exception in the FSIA and, if so, whether the plaintiffs’ claims qualify under that exception.

Bates v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

465 F.3d 1069 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Oct 10, 2006

The district court found that UPS did not establish that “substantially all [deaf drivers] present a higher risk of acci- dents than non-deaf drivers.” This finding was not clearly erroneous. 1. … Because none of these predicate findings were clearly errone- ous, neither was the district court’s ultimate finding of fact that UPS did not establish that deaf drivers are less safe than hearing drivers.

Lerette v. County of Hawaii

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 4, 2024

. § 1291, and we affirm on the second prong of qualified immunity alone (“clearly established law”).1 1. “We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo.” Gonzalez v. … “Qualified immunity protects government officials from liability under § 1983 ‘unless (1) they violated a federal statutory or constitutional right, and (2) the unlawfulness of their conduct was clearly established at the

Montana Medical Association v. Austin Knudsen

119 F.4th 618 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Oct 9, 2024

The plaintiffs are a hospital system, two offices of private physicians, a medical association, and several Montana residents with compromised immune systems who are allegedly “qualified individuals with a disability” under … ’s vaccination or immunization status,” and (3) use that information to “implement[] reasonable accommodation measures for employees, patients, visitors, and other persons who are not vaccinated or not immune to protect the

Timothy Ryan v. Brant Putnam

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jun 23, 2023

Defendants assert that they are entitled to qualified immunity because there is no clearly established law showing that Ryan suffered an adverse employment action. … Defendants contend that they are entitled to qualified immunity because there is no clearly established law showing that Ryan spoke as a private citizen.

Earnest Woods, II v. Tom Carey

488 F. App'x 194 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 6, 2012

Cervantes appeals the district court’s denial of qualified immunity, arguing that he is entitled to immunity because there was no clearly established law that recognized that his conduct could amount to a constitutional … The qualified immunity analysis requires that the official’s conduct violate a constitutional right of the plaintiff, and that at the time of the alleged violation this right was clearly established with sufficient particularity

Smith v. City of Hayward

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Dec 9, 2025

We affirm the district court’s denial of qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment claim. 4. … In any case, the officers’ use of force in self-defense wasn’t prohibited by clearly established law.

Smith v. Ball

278 F. App'x 739 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 14, 2008

MEMORANDUM * Rebecca Kay Smith appeals the district court’s dismissal of her excessive force, due process, and free speech claims on qualified immunity grounds. … Even reaching the merits of her First Amendment argument, however, Smith failed to establish a constitutional violation.

Arizona Public Service Co. v. Aspaas

69 F.3d 1026 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 7, 1995

Indian tribes may not be sued absent an express and unequivocal waiver of immunity by the tribe or abrogation of tribal immunity of Congress. See Burlington Northern R.R. Co. v. … National Farmers establishes a prudential rule of exhaustion that has been satisfied in this case.

Martin Marceau v. Blackfeet Housing Authority

455 F.3d 974 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 21, 2006

App.1989) ("Contrary to the housing authority's position, this tribal ordinance is an indisputable qualified waiver of immunity by the Blackfeet Tribe and housing authority for a breach of contract action . . . . … The first clause clearly has some present effect.

William Trerice v. Dan A. Pedersen, Captain, U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer, Uss Ranger

769 F.2d 1398 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Aug 28, 1985

Wilkes essentially offered only a qualified intramilitary immunity, which would be unavailable in cases involving maliciously motivated tortious conduct. … Moreover, “since the time of Wilkes, significant changes have been made establishing a comprehensive system of military justice.” Chappell, 462 U.S. at 305 n. 2, 103 S.Ct. at 2368 n. 2.