Case law

Drumgold v. Callahan

707 F.3d 28 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Jan 31, 2013

Qualified Immunity Callahan argues that, even if the evidence he withheld was material, he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the basis of qualified immunity because it was not clearly established at the time of … Qualified immunity is an affirmative defense.

Waganfeald v. Gusman

674 F.3d 475 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 12, 2012

light of clearly established law at the time of the violation.”21 A defendant violates clearly established law only if “the contours of [the] right are sufficiently clear that every reasonable official would have understood … established law, so the district court should have granted him judgment as a matter of law on qualified immunity. 27 McCoy v.

Margheim v. Buljko

855 F.3d 1077 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Apr 28, 2017

clearly established law.” … Having established that Mr. Margheim failed to make out a constitutional violation, we need not address the clearly established law inquiry of the qualified immunity analysis.

Cheryl James v. Wilkes Barre City

700 F.3d 675 · Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Nov 29, 2012

III The doctrine of qualified immunity insulates government officials who are performing discretionary functions ―from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory … The Supreme Court has established a two-part analysis that governs whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201 (2001).

Edwards v. Oliver

31 F.4th 925 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 19, 2022

“But, to overcome qualified immunity, the plaintiff’s version of those disputed facts must also constitute a violation of clearly established law.” Id. … And even putting all of this aside, one central problem remains: To overcome qualified immunity, Plaintiffs (and the panel majority) must demonstrate that the constitutional violation here was clearly established.

Matthews v. Leflore County, Mississippi

District Court, N.D. Mississippi · Sep 19, 2025

Clifton, 29 F.3d 1012, 1015 (5th Cir. 1994) (holding that law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity “unless it is shown that, at the time of the incident, [the officer] violated a clearly established constitutional … Particularly considering that this case involves the invocation of a qualified immunity defense, the Court finds it appropriate to avoid attempting to piece together Matthews’ contentions.

Estate of Miller, Ex Rel. Bertram v. Tobiasz

680 F.3d 984 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 24, 2012

Qualified immunity protects government officials from individual liability for actions taken while performing discretionary functions, unless their conduct violates clearly established statutory or con *989 stitutional rights … qualified immunity analysis; that the constitutional right must be clearly established.

Brent K. Hansen v. John Soldenwagner Raymond Malecki John Puleo, City of Sunrise

19 F.3d 573 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 21, 1994

QUALIFIED IMMUNITY Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from civil liability if their conduct violates no “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Here, as in all qualified immunity cases, the question is fact specific: in April 1990, was it clearly established in this circuit that it was unconstitutional for police officials to investigate and to suspend an officer

Reichle v. Howards

566 U.S. 658 · Supreme Court of the United States · Jun 4, 2012

Judge Paul Kelly dissented from the court’s denial of qualified immunity. … S. 223, 236 (2009), we held that courts may grant qualified immunity on the ground that a purported right was not “clearly established” by prior case law, without resolving the often more difficult question whether the purported

Johnson, A., Aplt. v. Wetzel, J.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · Oct 1, 2020

“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 person … Rickard, 572 U.S. 765, 778 (2014) (“An official sued under § 1983 is entitled to qualified immunity unless it is shown that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right that was clearly established at the

Rogers v. County of San Joaquin

487 F.3d 1288 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 29, 2007

Reasonable Official: 30 In order to assess Royal's claim of qualified immunity, we must conduct a two-part analysis: "1) Was the law governing the official's conduct clearly established? … medical neglect was not clearly established.

Miller v. Roycroft

Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Sep 10, 2025

established rule forbade the use of force that "occurred" before Miller was "restrained" through "handcuff[s]" (because the officers contest only the clearly established component of the qualified-immunity … established law needed to overcome qualified immunity for the Phase Two conduct.

Geils v. Patin

941 F. Supp. 2d 722 · District Court, N.D. Texas · Sep 25, 2012

Qualified Immunity 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 … The clearly established requirement “does not mean that officials’ conduct is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful.” Cantrell v.

Via, Tonisha v. LaGrand, Sandra

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Nov 17, 2006

See Jones, 425 F.3d at 460 (holding that a defendant is entitled to qualified immunity if the alleged constitutional right was not clearly established at the time of the alleged violation). … was not yet clearly established at the time of the investigation of Via.”

Jean v. Collins

221 F.3d 656 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Aug 15, 2000

Martinez v. Texas Workforce Commission-Civil Rights Division

775 F.3d 685 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 30, 2014

We have held that a plaintiff may establish pretext by demonstrating that he was “clearly better qualified” such that “the qualifications are so widely disparate that no reasonable employer would have made the same decision … Indeed, an employee’s “better education, work experience, and longer tenure with the company do not establish that he is clearly better qualified.” Price, 283 F.3d at 723.

Denno v. School Board of Volusia County

182 F.3d 780 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jul 26, 1999

QUALIFIED IMMUNITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS Qualified immunity shields government officials from both suit and liability if their conduct violates no clearly established right of which a reasonable person would … As indicated in our elaboration above of the qualified immunity standard, pre-existing law must clearly establish the alleged constitutional right.

David C. Skrtich v. Timothy Alvin Thornton

280 F.3d 1295 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 29, 2002

Qualified immunity protects government officials acting within their discretionary functions from liability for civil damages as long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights … Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 615 , 119 S.Ct. 1692 , 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999) (" 'clearly established' ” for purposes of qualified immunity does not mean that “ 'an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very

Shane Horton v. City of Santa Maria

915 F.3d 592 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Feb 1, 2019

CITY OF SANTA MARIA to qualified immunity so that “[g]oing forward, . . . the law is clearly established in this scenario”). … We therefore confine our inquiry to the second qualified immunity prong — whether the constitutional right at issue was “clearly established” at the time of the alleged violation. B.

Rivera v. Senkowski

62 F.3d 80 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Aug 8, 1995

Finally, the district court rejected defendants’ defense of qualified immunity as to the retaliation claim since (1) the constitutional right against retaliation had been clearly established by 1990 and (2) defendants’ acts … Appellate Jurisdiction The affirmative defense of qualified immunity “shields public officials from liability for their discretionary acts that do ‘not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which