Case law

Aisenberg v. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

325 F. Supp. 2d 1366 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 16, 2004

Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects a prosecutor’s discretionary acts that violate no “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” … See Gonzalez, 325 F.3d at 1233-34 (qualified immunity requires dismissal of an action if the complaint “fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional right”).

Deppe v. Sovinski

District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 18, 2025

[may] be specific enough to establish clearly the law applicable to particular conduct and circumstances to overcome qualified immunity, even in the total absence of case[]law.” … of qualified immunity.”); Dolihite v.

Bowden v. Snider

District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 23, 2024

What is more, the defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. … Cortesluna, 595 U.S. 1, 5 (2021) (A right is clearly established for purposes of qualified immunity “when it is sufficiently clear that every reasonable officer would have understood that what he is doing violates that

Sims v. Figueroa

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 27, 2019

Qualified Immunity Defendant Figueroa alternatively asserts that he is entitled to qualified immunity. … As to qualified immunity, the Eleventh Circuit has stated: To invoke qualified immunity, a public official must first demonstrate

Allen v. Pacheco

District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 11, 2020

a clearly established constitutional right.’” … As Officer Suttle did not raise the qualified immunity issue for any other claims, Allen did not have a sufficient opportunity to respond regarding qualified immunity for those claims

ATHEISTS OF FLORIDA v. City of Lakeland, Fla.

779 F. Supp. 2d 1330 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 15, 2011

Qualified Immunity Defendants also urge this Court to dismiss all claims against Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields because, at least according to Defendants, Defendant Fields enjoys qualified immunity from suit. … “Qualified immunity shields government officials who perform discretionary governmental functions from civil liability so long as their conduct does not violate any ‘clearly established statutory or constitutional rights

Gibson v. Idleberg

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 18, 2025

was clearly established at the relevant time.” … Torreso, 764 F.3d 217, 237 (2d Cir. 2014) (“An officer is not entitled to qualified immunity on the grounds that the law is not clearly established every time a novel method is used to inflict injury.”

Jarvis v. City of Daytona Beach

District Court, M.D. Florida · Oct 23, 2024

A district court’s order denying the defense of qualified immunity is an immediately appealable order within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Mitchell v. … Until the Eleventh Circuit determines whether the relevant law was clearly established, Defendants should not be subjected to trial.

Hopps v. City of Tampa

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 24, 2025

“In assessing qualified immunity at the motion to dismiss stage, ‘the qualified immunity inquiry and the Rule 12(b)(6) standard become intertwined.’” Aguirre-Jarquin v. … See Wilson, 54 F. 4th at 660 (“[I]t is not necessary to decide both prongs [of the qualified immunity analysis] where it is plain that the right is not clearly established.”).

Carlyle v. Dejesus

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 30, 2020

Therefore, he has failed to show the violation of a clearly established constitutional right. Accordingly, Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. See Buford v. … Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526 (1985) (“Unless the plaintiff’s allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery

Dayton v. City of Marco Island

District Court, M.D. Florida · Nov 5, 2021

Qualified immunity protects government officials (sued individually) if “their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. … Because Plaintiffs cannot show a clearly established right, qualified immunity protects Brechnitz. See Fuqua v.

Grieb

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 29, 2026

But under the doctrine of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must surmount a high bar: he must demonstrate that the officers violated a statutory or constitutional right that was “clearly established” at the time of the … Norrod, 106 F.3d 1289, 1299 (6th Cir. 1997) (concluding that an observing officer was entitled to qualified immunity because “there was no clearly established right being violated for which [he] had a duty to intervene

Webb v. English

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 23, 2021

First, decisions at the district court level, like the one in Baker, are insufficient to clearly establish the law for purposes of a qualified immunity analysis. … Even so, in the context of qualified immunity, posed-but-undecided questions of constitutionality do not clearly establish a right.

Puglia v. Nienhuis

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 31, 2023

Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from being sued in their individual capacities unless their conduct violates a clearly established … immunity defense, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving the existence of a clearly established right.

Shabazz v. Dixon

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 27, 2019

Howards, 566 U.S. 658, 664 (2012)(“[c]ourts may grant qualified immunity on the ground that a purported right was not ‘clearly established’ by prior case law, without resolving the often ore difficult … For a right to be “clearly established” for qualified immunity purposes, “existing precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate.”

Anderson v. Vasquez

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 30, 2019

To avoid summary judgment based on qualified immunity, a plaintiff must show both that the defendant violated a federal right and that the right was already clearly established in light of the circumstances that occurred … “The burden of showing that an officer violated clearly established law falls on the plaintiff, and a plaintiff’s citation of general rules or abstract rights is insufficient to strip a 1983 defendant of his qualified immunity

Hernandez v. Wells

District Court, M.D. Florida · May 20, 2022

immunity on summary judgment because his qualified immunity turned on a dispute of fact). … “Falsifying facts to establish probable cause is clearly unconstitutional and has been ‘clearly established’ long before [Hernandez’s] arrest.” Mead v. McKeithen, 571 F. App’x 788, 792 (11th Cir. 2014) (per curiam).

Shadmani v. Barnes

District Court, M.D. Florida · Oct 11, 2024

that they violated a clearly established constitutional right. … the qualified immunity privilege, even in the absence of case law.

Omar Ex Rel. Cannon v. Lindsey

243 F. Supp. 2d 1339 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 14, 2003

Qualified Immunity Defendants, all of whom are being sued in them individual capacities, raise the defense of qualified immunity. … Last spring, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that clarifies how a court is to determine whether a particular right was “clearly established” for the purposes of a qualified immunity analysis. In Hope v.

Bonett v. Gualtieri

District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 29, 2022

denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity.” … was clearly established at the time of Cook’s alleged misconduct.