Case law

Canales v. Harris County

District Court, S.D. Texas · May 2, 2025

Rather, courts may find qualified immunity based solely on a plaintiff s failure to clear the clearly established hurdle. See also Joseph on behalf of Est. of Joseph v. … Plaintiff attempts to overcome the first prong of the qualified immunity inquiry by alleging that “[t]he law is clearly established that an individual has the right to protection.” (Doc. No. 12 at 17).

Abogado v. International Marine Carriers

890 F. Supp. 626 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 21, 1995

IMC first argues that it is not a proper party to this action because the SEALIFT INDIAN OCEAN is owned by the United States and qualifies as a public vessel. … Clearly, where the government has not waived its right of sovereign immunity, it cannot be sued.

Rogge ex rel. Rogge v. City of Richmond

995 F. Supp. 2d 657 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 31, 2014

Police officers, as state officials, have qualified immunity from Section 1983 suits for actions performed in the exercise of discretionary functions “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … In order to overcome an officer’s assertion of qualified immunity, a plaintiff first must show that the officer violated a constitutional right. Hope v.

Pena v. Madrid

District Court, S.D. Texas · Feb 20, 2024

. § 1983 and Qualified Immunity “The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials ‘from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established … Pena has also sufficiently alleged that the Deputy Defendants violated clearly established law and are therefore not entitled to qualified immunity.

Amorrortu v. Republic of Peru

570 F. Supp. 2d 916 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jul 31, 2008

The origins of this debt are not clearly explained in the Complaint. … As for the non-payment of debts, the origin of the alleged debt is not clearly explained in the Complaint, making it impossible for the Court to find that Amorrortu has succeeded in establishing the Court’s subject matter

Lowery v. University of Houston-Clear Lake

82 F. Supp. 2d 689 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Feb 8, 2000

the state’s immunity. … Clearly, as to the undercompensation claim, Plaintiff meets the first two prongs of the Waltman test.

Patton v. Texas Woman's University Case remanded to the 333rd District Court of Harris County, Texas.

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 18, 2023

clearly established federal statutory or constitutional law of which a reasonable person would have known. … right, or (2) that the unlawfulness of Solomon and Nibert’s conduct was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.

Vela v. Lewis

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 3, 2025

Qualified immunity is an affirmative defense that shields a government official “from civil damages liability unless [he] violated a statute of constitutional right that was clearly established at the time of the challenged … Houston, 964 F.3d 374, 380 (5th Cir. 2020) (plaintiff “must rebut the defense [of qualified immunity] by establishing a genuine fact [dispute] as to whether the official’s allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established

Momoh v. J. Carrasco

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 13, 2024

This is a high bar, and “[w]hen there is no controlling authority specifically prohibiting a defendant's conduct, the law is not clearly established for the purposes of defeating qualified immunity.” … Because Momoh has not shown the violation of a constitutional right, it is unnecessary to address the second prong of the qualified immunity standard regarding whether the right was clearly established.

Chung

District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 24, 2026

qualified immunity. … Chung has not established that Starr-High’s conduct in that regard violated “clearly established” law. Dr.

Simms

District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 3, 2026

QUALIFIED IMMUNITY Qualified immunity bars suit against state officials so long as their actions were not “objectively unreasonable, in light of clearly-established law at … To overcome qualified immunity, Plaintiffs must show that the right in question is clearly established. More specifically, they must show that “existing precedent [has] placed the . . .

Rivens-Baker Jr v. Larue

District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 15, 2023

Qualified Immunity The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … Once a defendant raises a qualified immunity defense, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to allege that (1) the defendant violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) the right was “clearly established

United States v. Seiffert

357 F. Supp. 801 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Mar 14, 1973

As a result, the books of a bankrupt in the possession of the trustee or receiver are clearly not testimony within the meaning of the statute. Ensign v. … Further, a review of the transcript of such testimony clearly reveals that it was not used to ascertain knowledge of the details of the crime and sources of information which would supply other means of convicting the defendant

Sauceda v. City of San Benito, Texas

District Court, S.D. Texas · Feb 16, 2024

In the present case, the Fifth Circuit expressly did not reach the clearly-established prong of the qualified-immunity analysis. … Qualified Immunity: Clearly Established Analysis The two-part test for qualified immunity requires a court to determine: (1) whether the defendant’s actions violated the plaintiff’s constitutional rights

Jones-MacDonald v. Harris County

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 30, 2024

“Qualified immunity protects government officials from civil liability in their individual capacity to the extent that their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.” Cass v. … Kan. 2021) (“Marcus found the law was clearly established and denied qualified immunity under similar circumstances, focusing on the officers’ unfounded assumption that the repossessor was entitled to possession

Heckford v. City of Pasadena

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 21, 2022

“The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials ‘from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … But even though Heckford bears the burden of overcoming Bruegger’s defense of qualified immunity, he points to no law or case that clearly establishes that a chief of police can be held liable for employing the type

Lewis

District Court, S.D. Texas · Mar 26, 2026

“Qualified immunity protects government officials from civil liability in their individual capacity to the extent that their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.” Cass v. … To overcome their qualified immunity defenses, Lewis must allege “facts showing (1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was ‘clearly established’ at the time of

Johnson v. Texas Department of Corrections

373 F. Supp. 1108 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Apr 11, 1974

However, before the Court can investigate whether the TDC may invoke sovereign immunity or whether it has been waived under state law, the jurisdiction of this Court must be clearly demonstrated. … It is well established that a State cannot be made a party defendant in a federal district court by a private litigant based upon diversity of citizenship. State Highway Commission of Wyoming v.

Norman v. Harris County,Texas

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 5, 2024

They argue that they are protected by qualified immunity. They contend that their actions did not violate Norman’s clearly established constitutional rights. … Here, qualified immunity does not aid the deputies. Their conduct if true, was egregious and violated clearly established federal constitutional rights.

Canales v. Harris County

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 25, 2024

Qualified immunity protects government officials “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have … Rather, courts may find qualified immunity based solely on a plaintiff's failure to clear the clearly established hurdle. See also Joseph on behalf of Est. of Joseph v.