Case law

Branch v. Carroll County, Mississippi

District Court, N.D. Mississippi · Sep 22, 2020

“A plaintiff must make a two-part showing to overcome a qualified immunity defense. … Summary Against the defendants’ good faith assertion of qualified immunity, Branch failed to establish a constitutional violation.

Town of Port Deposit v. Petetit

113 Md. App. 401 · Court of Special Appeals of Maryland · Jan 30, 1997

Whether a defendant possesses a qualified immunity is ultimately an issue of law for the court to determine. … of an absolute immunity defense or a Harlow type of qualified immunity defense; the issues would be legal ones.

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.

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.”

Price v. Federal Express Corp.

283 F.3d 715 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 12, 2002

Second, he argues that by presenting evidence that he is clearly better qualified than Paone, he has effectively established pretext. … clearly))more qualified for the subject job.”

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).

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.

Belsito Communications, Inc. v. Decker

845 F.3d 13 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Dec 23, 2016

ISSUES INVOLVING BLACKDEN On the qualified-immunity front, our combatants battle over whether Trooper Decker violated clearly-established Fourth- and First-Amendment law. … At qualified-immunity's second step, Blackden must show that clearly-established law in August 2010 would have put Trooper Decker on clear notice of his potential First-Amendment liability.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Doe v. Whelan

Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Oct 17, 2013

Such a state official is entitled to qualified immunity from actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 “unless the official's conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right.” Pearson v. … Where the law is clearly established, “a caseworker is . . . entitled to qualified immunity if officers of reasonable competence could disagree on the legality of the action at issue in its particular factual context.”

Jean v. Collins

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

Randall Martin v. Robert Goldsmith

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Dec 31, 2025

Qualified immunity protects government officials from civil liability to the extent that their conduct does not violate a clearly established statutory or constitutional right to which a reasonable person would have known … To overcome the defense of qualified immunity, Martin must show (1) the defendants violated a constitutional right and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct. Doe v.

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.

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.

Reverend Stephen Jarrard v. Sheriff of Polk County

115 F.4th 1306 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Sep 16, 2024

established” to over- come their qualified-immunity defense. … Hartop, 992 F.3d 492, 504–17 (6th Cir. 2021), but that case cannot clearly establish the law in this Circuit for purposes of qualified immunity. Gilmore, 111 F.4th at 1135–36.