Case law

Hilchey v. City of Haverhill

537 F. Supp. 2d 255 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Feb 1, 2008

Before asking the second question, however, the issue of qualified immunity must be addressed. D. Qualified Immunity 1. … Second, the Court must determine whether the right was “clearly established at the time of the alleged violation”. Abrew-Guzman, 241 F.3d at 73 .

Garvey v. MacDonald

665 F. Supp. 2d 47 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Oct 22, 2009

To summarize, courts in strip-search cases follow the familiar three-part qualified immunity inquiry: (1) have the plaintiffs alleged a deprivation of an actual constitutional right; (2) was the right clearly established … Accordingly, the measuring date of August 4, 2008, is firmly established for qualified immunity purposes here.

Brown v. Pepe

42 F. Supp. 3d 310 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Sep 8, 2014

any of Brown’s “clearly established” constitutional rights. … Qualified immunity attaches to discretionary conduct of government officials that “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v.

Vacca v. Barletta

753 F. Supp. 400 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Dec 12, 1990

Qualified Immunity Government officials who are not granted absolute immunity are entitled to qualified immunity from suit. … law, but whether that law was clearly established at the time an action occurred....

Riverdale Mills Corp. v. United States

337 F. Supp. 2d 247 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Mar 16, 2004

In evaluating a claim for qualified immunity, a court must determine: 1) whether the plaintiffs allegations, if true, establish a constitutional violation, 2) whether the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged … The answer to each inquiry must be affirmative to overcome a defense of qualified immunity. Id. The Court is underwhelmed by defendants’ arguments that they are entitled to qualified immunity.

Opalenik v. LaBrie

945 F. Supp. 2d 168 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Mar 22, 2013

As Magistrate Judge Judith Dein explained: Qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages when “their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … rules that were clearly established at the time it was taken.”

Howes v. Hitchcock

66 F. Supp. 2d 203 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Sep 9, 1999

conduct violated clearly established law.” … To prevail on their qualified immunity defense, the officers must first establish that a prudent police officer with the information they collectively possessed reasonably could have believed that probable cause to arrest

Hunt v. Massi

5 F. Supp. 3d 160 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Mar 25, 2014

Overview of Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects public officials from civil liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , as long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights which … The Right was Clearly Established.

Spencer v. Roche

755 F. Supp. 2d 250 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Nov 8, 2010

Qualified Immunity Defendant VHS contends that its nurse employees are entitled to qualified immunity for their actions, and that it cannot be liable under a theory of vicarious or supervisory liability for actions that are … Defendants Roche and Morris do not assert qualified immunity as a defense on summary judgment. 13 .

Doyle v. Dukakis

699 F. Supp. 357 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Nov 4, 1988

Qualified Immunity. The Court need not rest its decision on such a broad determination, however, in light of the qualified immunity from suit available to these defendants. In Harlow v. … The Supreme Court wrote that if a judge, on summary judgment, determines that “the law was clearly established at the time an action occurred, the immunity defense ordinarily should fail since a reasonably competent public

Carroll v. City of Quincy

441 F. Supp. 2d 215 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Jun 9, 2006

Under the doctrine of qualified immunity: government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … The defendants are entitled to qualified immunity unless: 1) the plaintiff’s allegations, if true, establish a constitutional violation, 2) the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation and 3) a similarly

Gonsalves v. City of New Bedford

939 F. Supp. 921 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Aug 1, 1996

Qualified Immunity As I indicated earlier, I also find that the plaintiff has proven that the defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity for their intentional cover-up in the circumstances of this case. … City of Laconia, the requirement that the federal right at issue must be clearly established does not mean that a government official has qualified immunity “‘unless the very action in question has previously been held to

Hudson v. Spencer

180 F. Supp. 3d 70 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Sep 25, 2015

Qualified immunity Qualified immunity protects state officials against § 1983 suits for damages if them conduct did “not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have … To determine whether qualified immunity applies, the court must decide 1) whether the official violated the plaintiffs constitutional right and 2) whether that right was clearly established at the time of the violation.

Strachan v. Ashe

548 F. Supp. 1193 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Oct 13, 1982

of a *1198 defense based upon qualified good faith immunity. … description of qualified immunity set forth in Scheuer v.

DeMayo v. Nugent

475 F. Supp. 2d 110 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Feb 21, 2007

As a result of not finding the constitutional right at stake “clearly established,” this Court is not compelled to reach the third prong of qualified immunity. … a “clearly established” rule.

Shaheed-Muhammad v. Dipaolo

393 F. Supp. 2d 80 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Sep 26, 2005

violated that clearly established constitutional right. … Silvia, 32 Mass.App.Ct. 271, 273 , 588 N.E.2d 711 (1992) (to defeat defense of qualified immunity under the Civil Rights Act, plaintiff was “obliged to show that the defendants deprived her of a ‘clearly established’ right

Nolan v. Krajcik

384 F. Supp. 2d 447 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Jul 12, 2005

Qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages when “their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Instead, the court determined that the defendant police officers were shielded by qualified immunity because no such constitutional right was clearly established until the Supreme Court decided Wilson v.

Blake v. Berman

598 F. Supp. 1081 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Dec 11, 1984

Defendants also contend that plaintiff’s claim for damages is foreclosed by defendants’ qualified immunity. … right was not clearly established at the time of plaintiff’s transfer to Leavenworth seems dubious at best.

Baggett v. Ashe

41 F. Supp. 3d 113 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Aug 26, 2014

not be shielded by qualified immunity. … Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects officials performing discretionary functions when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable officer should have

McGunigle v. City of Quincy

944 F. Supp. 2d 113 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · May 16, 2013

Qualified Immunity Finally, the individual Defendants move for dismissal based on qualified immunity. The Supreme Court has articulated a two-step procedure for determining qualified immunity. … employee-speech law requires a fact-intensive balancing test, “it can rarely be considered ‘clearly established’ for purposes of qualified immunity.” 87 Yet, without more information, the court cannot determine whether this