Case law

Estate of Sylville K Smith v. City of Milwaukee Wisconsin

District Court, E.D. Wisconsin · Oct 18, 2019

Whether the right was “clearly established” at the time of its alleged violation In establishing the second prong in the qualified immunity analysis, a plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that the constitutional … right was “clearly established.”

Wiley v. Doory

14 F.3d 993 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Jan 27, 1994

The only issue before this Court is whether Doory is entitled to qualified immunity. 6 I Qualified immunity shields a governmental official from liability for civil monetary damages if the officer’s “conduct does not violate … Thus, appellant Doory is entitled to qualified immunity. Accordingly, the order of the district court regarding the availability of qualified immunity to Doory as to the Fifth Amendment claims is REVERSED. .

Cronin v. Town of Amesbury

895 F. Supp. 375 · District Court, D. Massachusetts · Jul 25, 1995

Qualified Immunity In any event, Koelsch asserts the defense of qualified immunity. … The qualified immunity inquiry in this context is a familiar one: Qualified immunity shields government official performing discretionary functions from civil damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established

Joseph Wheeler, Cross v. City of Pleasant Grove, a Municipal Corp., Cross

664 F.2d 99 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Dec 18, 1981

We see no reason to disturb this finding under the clearly erroneous rule. … The district court held that the defendants in this action were shielded by the defense of a qualified immunity as set forth in Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232 , 94 S.Ct. 1683 , 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

Joe Abbott v. E. Tootell

631 F. App'x 487 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jan 27, 2016

ruling on qualified immunity, George v. Edholm, 752 F.3d 1206, 1214 (9th Cir. 2014), and we affirm. … Ct. 2074, 2080, 2083 (2011) (setting forth qualified immunity test and recognizing that a clearly established right does “not require a case directly on point”).

Onie Pena v. Dallas County Hospital Dist

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Nov 23, 2015

Ct. 1765, 1776 (2015) (“Qualified immunity is no immunity at all if ‘clearly established’ law can simply be defined as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.”). … Qualified immunity thus attaches unless the law is clearly established that the defendant’s conduct amounted to a seizure.

United States v. Rosales-Bruno

676 F.3d 1017 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 6, 2012

From there, Rosales-Bruno argues that the government failed to establish that he did, in fact, employ “physical force” when he committed the offense of false imprisonment. … We find, however, that Rosales-Bruno clearly objected to specific parts of Paragraph 30 of the PSR, disputing the factual accuracy of that paragraph’s description of the conduct underlying his false imprisonment conviction

Varnado

District Court, M.D. Louisiana · Nov 25, 2025

Qualified Immunity Public officials are entitled to qualified immunity unless the plaintiff demonstrates that (1) the defendant violated an actual constitutional or federal statutory right that is clearly established … The qualified immunity defense has two prongs: whether an official's conduct violated a constitutional right of the plaintiff; and whether the right was clearly established at the time of the violation.

Holland v. Valhi Inc.

22 F.3d 968 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Apr 19, 1994

Amalgamated failed to establish that its computation, in fact, was consistent with the requirement of the regulations. … Pensions § 13 (1987); see also ERISA § 3(35), 29 U.S.C. § 1002 (35), and if "qualified” under 26 U.S.C. § 401 et seq., is subject to favorable Internal Revenue Service treatment. .

Sciotto Ex Rel. Sciotto v. Marple Newtown School District

81 F. Supp. 2d 559 · District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania · Sep 23, 1999

Qualified Immunity Defendants James Smith and Stu Nathans claim that they are entitled to qualified immunity from plaintiffs’ suit. The defendants have met their burden of pleading a qualified immunity defense, Gomez v. … a right for qualified immunity purposes.

2

Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Sep 30, 2016

Qualified immunity is unavailable where,  22 as here, the action violates an accused’s clearly established constitutional  23 rights, and no reasonably competent police officer could believe otherwise.   … In Ricciuti, the panel held that fabrication of evidence  13 violated a “clearly established constitutional right[]” and thus the officers were  14 not entitled to qualified immunity. 

Germaine Smart v. COII Ronald England

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Feb 16, 2024

He found that qualified immunity barred Smart’s complaint because no clearly established law pro- hibited the officials from disciplining Smart. … Defendants cannot benefit from the shield of qualified immunity by arguing the law was not clearly established.

Harris v. The City of Texico

District Court, D. New Mexico · Mar 7, 2023

Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects public officials from liability “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … violation was clearly established.

Limon v. City of Laredo

District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 4, 2025

Qualified immunity shields government officials from § 1983 liability unless their conduct violates a constitutional right that was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct. Mace v. … To overcome qualified immunity on his excessive force claim, Christian must show that Officer Martinez violated a constitutional right and that the right was clearly established. Guerra v.

Leise v. Christie

Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Aug 27, 2025

immunity because releasing the Investigative Report did not violate clearly established law. … A qualified immunity analysis considers whether: “(1) . . . the official violated a statutory right or constitutional right, and (2) . . . the right was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the challenged conduct.”

Amburgey v. Doe

District Court, W.D. Kentucky · Apr 20, 2023

For the same reason, Trebuna is entitled to qualified immunity from suit. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S. Ct. 2806, 2815, 86 L. … Ed. 2d 411 (1985) (“Unless the plaintiff’s allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery.”).

Joanne Joyce, Individually and as of the Estate of James D. Joyce v. Town of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, John R. MacKey Alfred Donovan and Robert Budryk

112 F.3d 19 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Apr 29, 1997

Because qualified immunity turns primarily on an appraisal of existing case law, oral argument has been deemed unnecessary. … But the en banc court is agreed that qualified immunity applies, and there is less consensus about the underlying constitutional issue.

Nathaniel Brent v. Wayne Cnty. Dep't of Human Servs.

555 F. App'x 519 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Feb 6, 2014

Alternatively, they contend that the rights that the district court identified were not clearly established and, therefore, qualified immunity shields them. … But on a claim of qualified immunity, “[t]he plaintiff has the burden of establishing that the law was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct.” Andrews v.

Kompare v. Stein

801 F.2d 883 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Sep 4, 1986

violate clearly established rights. … Any doubt as to whether the prosecution was without probable cause must be *892 resolved in favor of the defendant because she has qualified immunity unless she violated a clearly established right.

Millbrook v. Spitz

District Court, D. Colorado · Sep 23, 2019

immunity. … Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231 (2009) (“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