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.

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

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.

Dan Turner and Henry Bonaparte v. Troy Perry

Texas Court of Appeals, 14th District (Houston) · Jan 27, 2009

Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects governmental officials performing discretionary functions from suit if their actions were objectively reasonable in the light of then clearly-established law. Anderson v. … Appellants contend that they nevertheless are entitled to qualified immunity because they did not violate a clearly established right protecting Perry = s speech.

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.

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).

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

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.

Williams v. Mehra

186 F.3d 685 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Aug 4, 1999

“Mitchell clearly establishes that an order rejecting the defense of qualified immunity at either the dismissal stage or the summary-judgment stage is a ‘final’ judgment subject to immediate appeal.” Behrens v. … Qualified Immunity “Government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.