Case law

Kovacic v. Villarreal

628 F.3d 209 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 17, 2010

Qualified immunity was created to insulate 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 … No such constitutional law was then, or is now, clearly established.

Badia v. City of Miami

133 F.3d 1443 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 30, 1998

In order to defeat Lee's claimed entitlement to qualified immunity, Badia was required to proffer evidence which, viewed in the light most favorable to her, demonstrates that Lee violated clearly established statutory or … Lee's alleged actions did not violate clearly established First Amendment rights, and qualified immunity protects Lee from Badia's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 First Amendment claim.

Keith v. Koerner

843 F.3d 833 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Dec 9, 2016

“When a defendant asserts qualified immunity at summary judgment, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show that: (1) the defendant violated a constitutional right and (2) the constitutional right was clearly established … Keith possessed a clearly established constitutional right and presented evidence of a constitutional violation by Warden Koerner, summary judgment was inappropriate on qualified- immunity grounds.

MacDonald v. Town of Eastham

745 F.3d 8 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Mar 12, 2014

"[Q]ualified 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 … Given the nature of the qualified immunity inquiry, it is sufficient to hold — as we do in this opinion — that because these questions are not resolved by clearly established law, the officers who entered and searched

Koch v. Rugg

221 F.3d 1283 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Aug 11, 2000

clearly established law.” … violate clearly established law.”).

Moniz v. City of Fort Lauderdale

145 F.3d 1278 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jul 9, 1998

immunity unless Moniz can demonstrate that appellants should have known, based on clearly established law as of 1993 and 1995, the years in which the challenged promotions were awarded, that their use of race as a factor … We conclude, therefore, that, having violated no clearly established law, appellants are entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law.

Christopher Payne v. Fred Britten

749 F.3d 697 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Apr 16, 2014

The district court’s order did not decide whether the officials were entitled to qualified immunity or assess whether any alleged violations were of clearly established federal law. … Courts may ask only whether the facts as alleged plausibly state a claim and whether that claim asserts a violation of a clearly established right.

Arthur Jackson v. W.I. Hollowell

714 F.2d 1372 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 22, 1983

Qualified Immunity Longstanding precedent establishes the appellants’ entitlement to the benefit of the qualified immunity defense previously recognized in Scheuer v. … Although the defendants have failed to demonstrate their entitlement to the protections of qualified immunity, a separate inquiry must be made to determine whether Jackson adequately demonstrated that his clearly established

Peterson v. Jensen

371 F.3d 1199 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Jun 8, 2004

A right is “clearly established” if Supreme Court or Tenth Circuit case law exists on point or if the “clearly established weight of authority from other circuits” found a constitutional violation from similar actions. … Shejheur no longer occupied the apartment, the search as alleged violated clearly established constitutional law.

Tyrone Cameron v. City of Des Moines

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 26, 2026

Officer Meunsaveng has invoked qualified immunity. … See Pearson, 555 U.S. at 236 (noting that courts can analyze qualified immunity by first addressing whether an at-issue right was clearly established).

X-Men Security, Inc. v. Pataki

196 F.3d 56 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Nov 2, 1999

The qualified-immunity doctrine shields “government officials performing discretionary functions ... from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … Thus, when the district court has denied a qualified-immunity motion, its rulings that the plaintiff has sufficiently alleged the violation of a constitutional right and that that right was clearly established at the time

Jonathan Hedgpeth v. Ammar Rahim

893 F.3d 802 · Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · Jun 26, 2018

The court also held that Officer Rahim was entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive- force claim because no clearly established law prohibited the takedown maneuver he allegedly used to effect the arrest. … Even if there is a genuine dispute about the reasonableness of an officer’s use of force, he is protected by qualified immunity unless his force violated clearly established law. See Kisela, 138 S.

Shanika Day v. Franklin Wooten

947 F.3d 453 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 10, 2020

Denial of Qualified Immunity We review de novo a district court’s denial of summary judgment on a qualified immunity defense. Rooni v. Biser, 742 F.3d 737, 740 (7th Cir. 2014). … However, the officers did not violate any clearly established right.

Cullinan v. Abramson

128 F.3d 301 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Oct 16, 1997

The grounds on which the defendants relied included both absolute immunity and qualified immunity. … action is a violation) violates a clearly established right.

Nelson v. McMullen

207 F.3d 1202 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Mar 23, 2000

Nelson could not establish a constitutional deprivation, and therefore the officers were entitled to qualified immunity. The district court balanced the need for the search against Ms. … Qualified immunity is more than a defense to liability – it acts as an immunity to suit, therefore, “the Supreme Court has repeatedly ‘stressed the importance of resolving immunity questions at the earliest possible stage

Oladeinde v. City of Birmingham

963 F.2d 1481 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jun 24, 1992

Rule 12(b)(6) and Qualified Immunity At this early stage in the proceedings, the Rule 12(b)(6) defense and the qualified-immunity defense become intertwined. … Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). 5 Under the qualified-immunity defense, defendants are immune from liability and even from trial if plaintiffs’ complaint fails to state a violation of “clearly established statutory or constitutional

Tarantino v. Baker

825 F.2d 772 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Aug 10, 1987

Baker’s qualified immunity defense. … "Unless the plaintiffs allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery."

Kennedy v. Lehman

328 F. App'x 16 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · May 6, 2009

A grant of qualified immunity allows public officials to be “shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Be *20 cause the Individual Defendants did not violate a First Amendment right clearly-established as of 2002, we conclude that they are entitled to qualified immunity, and the district court must be reversed.

Arvil Hall v. Jon Shipley, Don Boles, Phillip Nall, and Sgt. Jack Mansfield

932 F.2d 1147 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 8, 1991

The right asserted by Hall was not so clearly established in this circuit as to defeat the officers’ claim of qualified immunity. … did acts which violate clearly established rights.

Higgenbotham v. Connatser

420 F. App'x 466 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 4, 2011

Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 , 129 S.Ct. 808, 816 , 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (denying qualified immunity when the plaintiff alleges violation of a constitutional right and such violation was objectively unreasonable under clearly … is entitled to qualified immunity.”