Case law

Kenneth R. Henderson v. Les Munn

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 28, 2006

“The question of what was known to a person who might be shielded by qualified immunity is reviewable, to determine if the known facts would inform a reasonable actor that his actions violate an established legal standard … Officer Munn’s Liability on Excessive Force Claim Qualified immunity protects a government official from liability in a section 1983 action unless the official’s conduct violated a clearly established constitutional

Seth Yellen, A/K/A Ronald Larkins v. Thomas I. Cooper, Superintendent, Shadow Mountain Correctional Facility, and Lt. Ted Weber, Correctional Officer

828 F.2d 1471 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Sep 11, 1987

Discussing the district court’s dismissal under § 1915(d) in such a case, we said: Where a public official has or may have a defense based on qualified immunity, the burden is on the official to raise the defense and establish … Under the case law governing the interpretation of the IADA, the plaintiffs conduct clearly established waiver as a matter of law. The affirmative defense, in this instance, was obvious from the face of the complaint.

Steidle, Gordon R. v. Fermon, Steven M.

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 18, 2007

established” constitutional law and preclude the defendants from proffering a qualified immunity defense. … II The Supreme Court has established a two-step analysis for assessing claims of qualified immunity. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201.

Betty Thompson Donald Thompson v. Upshur County, Tx, R.D. Cross, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Upshur County, Tx Paula Whorton, Individually and in Her Official Capacity as Jailer, Upshur County Robert Cromley, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Lieutenant, Upshur County Jail, Betty Thompson Donald Thompson v. Upshur County, Tx, Eugene Tefteller, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Sheriff, Marion County, Tx

245 F.3d 447 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 15, 2001

To ensure that qualified immunity serves its intended purpose, it is of paramount import, during step two, to define "clearly established law" at the proper level of generality. Anderson v. … Thus, the issue as to sheriff Cross's claim of qualified immunity is whether his policies were objectively reasonable in light of then clearly established law.

United States v. Willy Elmer Sweeten

933 F.2d 765 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Aug 30, 1991

establish that the conviction is a predicate conviction for *770 enhancement purposes. … To rule that a court can only consider the judgment of conviction when some other document, like the indictment or a signed guilty plea, might establish that the conviction in question clearly qualifies as a predicate conviction

Wheeler v. Lawson

539 F.3d 629 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 21, 2008

Wheeler. 9 We shall now turn to the issue of qualified immunity. C. Qualified Immunity The doctrine of qualified immunity shields from liability public officials who perform discretionary duties, Belcher v. … A plaintiff may defeat a qualified immunity defense by “point[ing] to a clearly analogous case establishing a right to be free from the specific conduct at issue” or by showing that “the conduct [at issue] is so egregious

Thompson Awnings v. Joshua Fullerton

912 F.3d 1089 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jan 4, 2019

Qualified Immunity Next, Awnings claims the district court erred when it granted qualified immunity to Officers Duncan and Fullerton because the district court erroneously: (1) excluded Awnings’s statements about his … An arrestee’s asserted Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable neglect in communicating a need for medical care was not clearly established in July 2013 when Awnings was seized, so Banks is entitled to qualified

Derrick Davis v. City of Little Rock

122 F.4th 326 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Dec 3, 2024

“A public official is entitled to qualified immunity unless (1) the official violated a statutory or constitutional right and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct.” Adams v. … Detectives Bell and Ison are entitled to qualified immunity as to the execution of the no-knock warrant. B.

Forbes v. Township of Lower Merion

76 F. App'x 475 · Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Oct 1, 2003

Rather, our jurisdiction is limited to “review[ing] whether the set of facts identified by the district court is sufficient *477 to establish a violation of a clearly established constitutional right.” Id. … As we have emphasized, we must accept these facts as true for the purposes of this appeal and inquire only whether they are “sufficient to establish a violation of a clearly established constitutional right.”

Barbara S. Clanton v. Orleans Parish School Board

649 F.2d 1084 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 6, 1981

We reverse the judgment of the district court on the issue of the defendants’ individual liability for backpay, concluding that the individual defendants established as a matter of law a qualified immunity defense. … the defense of qualified immunity forecloses their personal liability for attorneys’ fees.

Brockman v. Wyoming Department of Family Services

342 F.3d 1159 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Sep 4, 2003

Sovereign Immunity -7-  The Family and Medical Leave Act authorizes qualified employees to take leave from their jobs in certain circumstances. … The State asserts that such waiver must be clearly expressed, but it offers no argument that it did not clearly waive its sovereign immunity.

Ferraro v. City of Long Branch

23 F.3d 803 · Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · May 10, 1994

The court then observed that it was "well established that government officials performing discretionary functions enjoy qualified immunity from civil damages when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 , 102 S.Ct. 2727 , 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982), as qualified immunity is predicated on objective standards. While Winn v.

Garnett v. Undercover Officer C0039

838 F.3d 265 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Sep 30, 2016

Qualified immunity is unavailable where, as here, the action violates an accused’s clearly established constitutional rights, and no reasonably competent police officer could believe otherwise. … In Ricciuti , the panel held that fabrication of evidence violated a “clearly established constitutional right[]” and thus the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity.

Darrin VanPelt v. City of Detroit, Mich.

70 F.4th 338 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jun 6, 2023

The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding that Officer Layne didn’t violate VanPelt’s constitutional rights and was thus entitled to qualified immunity. … To overcome qualified immunity, VanPelt must show that Officer Layne (1) violated a constitutional right that was (2) clearly established. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 232 (2009).

Barnes v. Wright

Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jun 2, 2006

Qualified Immunity “[T]he Supreme Court [has] held that ‘government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly … Second, we consider whether the violation involved a clearly established constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known.

Manning, Steven v. Miller, Gary

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 21, 2004

Similarly, Manning is able to meet the second prong of the qualified immunity test: his constitutional due proc- ess right was “clearly established” at the time he asserts it was violated. … Because Manning is able to show that he is asserting a violation of a constitutional right and that the right was clearly established at that time, Agents Buchan and Miller cannot prevail on their qualified immunity claim

Joi Brown v. City of Huntsville, AL

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jun 7, 2010

Qualified Immunity “Qualified immunity offers complete protection for government officials sued in their individual capacities if their conduct ‘does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights … Courts utilize a two-part framework to evaluate qualified immunity claims.14 One inquiry in a qualified immunity analysis is whether the plaintiff’s allegations, if true, establish a constitutional violation. Hope v.

Jeffery Lee Johnston v. City of Bloomington

170 F.3d 825 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Mar 12, 1999

We also agree that, at the time of the incident, it was clearly established law that a person had the right to be free from unreasonable seizures and excessive force. 1 Although the City purports to appeal … on its own behalf, only the issue of the officers' entitlement to qualified immunity is presented in its brief.

Montero v. Nandlal

682 F. App'x 711 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Mar 9, 2017

of qualified immunity.”). … Coweta Cty., 21 F.3d 388, 390 (11th Cir. 1994) (holding that, for purposes of qualified immunity, the question of “whether the law allegedly violated was clearly established at the time of the complained-about conduct, and

Rellergert v. Cape Girardeau County

924 F.2d 794 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 4, 1991

DISCUSSION The law of qualified immunity is especially susceptible to the adage that the law *796 applied to hard facts yields unfortunate results. … While we conclude that the law is clearly established that jailers must take measures to prevent inmate suicides once they know of the suicide risk, we cannot say that the law is established with any clarity as to what those