Case law

Rosenthal v. County of Madison

339 Mont. 419 · Montana Supreme Court · Oct 23, 2007

“The doctrine of qualified immunity operates to shield government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … Moreover, even if we were to speculate with Rosenthal that new evidence would establish that Zenker’s conduct was entitled to qualified immunity rather than absolute immunity, he does not show how he will pierce the qualified

Curtis Arnold v. Patrick Jones C/o Blythe C/o Creeden C/o Scheers C/o Edwards C/o Whitson Lt. Olson

891 F.2d 1370 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jan 19, 1990

However, prison officials are generally immune from suit on the basis of qualified good faith immunity unless “their conduct ... violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person … The existence of a clearly established right, however, does not end our inquiry into whether defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.

Derek Westwater v. Kevin Church

60 F.4th 1124 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Feb 23, 2023

Alternatively, the court ruled that Church was entitled to qualified immunity on the federal § 1983 claim because any constitutional violation was not clearly established. Westwater appeals. … In these circumstances, summary judgment should not be granted on either qualified immunity issue, whether the force used was reasonable and, if not, whether the violation was clearly established.

Taft v. Vines

70 F.3d 304 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Nov 16, 1995

Under that analysis, we found that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity in that case because: (1) the right not to be arrested without probable cause was clearly established; and (2) a reasonably competent … Under the first two prongs of the qualified immunity analysis, it is plain that the specific right in question — the right not to be stopped and frisked without reasonable suspicion — was indeed clearly established at the

Stanley R. Guffey v. Eldridge Wyatt, Officer

18 F.3d 869 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Mar 9, 1994

Officer Wyatt contends the trial court erred in finding his alleged conduct violated clearly established law. … As our jurisprudence makes clear, when a defendant raises qualified immunity, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to establish the defendant violated clearly established constitutional rights. Hannula v.

Bustillos v. El Paso County Hospital District

226 F. Supp. 3d 778 · District Court, W.D. Texas · Jun 6, 2016

Here, the Court finds the second qualified immunity prong dispositive. … The second prong of the qualified immunity analysis requires the Court to decide whether it is “clearly established” that medical personnel must have their own independent reasonable suspicion before searching a detained

Douglas W. Schwenk v. James Hartford Steve Sinclair Robert Mitchell,opinion

204 F.3d 1187 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Feb 29, 2000

This satisfies the first part of the “analytical framework” for determining qualified immunity established in Siegert . … Was the Law Clearly Established?

ATKINSON v. APODACA

District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania · Mar 5, 2025

Defendants are not entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. … Evanson, 615 F.3d 197, 223 (3d Cir. 2010) (burden of establishing entitlement to qualified immunity on summary judgment is on the defendant). See also Collick v. William Paterson U., 699 Fed.

Van Lee Brewer v. Jason Simental

Texas Court of Appeals, 7th District (Amarillo) · Oct 15, 2010

defendants and, therefore, the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. … Those governmental officials are entitled to qualified immunity "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Id.

Blakely v. Andrade

360 F. Supp. 3d 453 · District Court, N.D. Texas · Jan 23, 2019

If the court answers both the constitutional violation and clearly established questions in the affirmative, the officer is not entitled to qualified immunity. Lytle , 560 F.3d at 410 . … For purposes of qualified immunity, "clearly established" means that the "contours of the right" are "sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right."

Lee Krueger and Mary Delacour v. Don Fuhr

991 F.2d 435 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jun 1, 1993

The District Court’s opinion discusses only Fuhr’s defense ‘‘on the merits," and not his qualified immunity defense. … However, we take this opportunity to suggest that district courts clearly address the qualified immunity issue. 3 .

Armstrong v. New Mexico Disability Determination Services

278 F. Supp. 3d 1193 · District Court, D. New Mexico · Sep 30, 2017

The Supreme Court has clarified that the clearly established prong of the qualified immunity test is a very high burden for the plaintiff: “A Government official’s conduct violates clearly established law when, at the time … There is, therefore, no evidence that Fernandez-Rice violated clearly established law, so qualified immunity bars Armstrong’s claims against her.

(PC) Anderson v. Becerra

District Court, E.D. California · Jan 17, 2020

Harris, 935 F.3d 670, 675-76 (9th Cir. 2019) (stating that dismissal on 25 immunity grounds may qualify as a strike for failure to state a claim where the immunity defense 26 is clear on the face of the complaint); Washington … the face of the complaint, and 3 the entirety of the complaint is dismissed for a qualifying reason under the PLRA[]”).

Hoefling v. City of Miami

876 F. Supp. 2d 1321 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Jul 13, 2012

“Unless the plaintiffs allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery.” Behrens v. … Plaintiff has not met his burden of showing that Officer Roque and Sergeant Gonzalez are not entitled to qualified immunity because he has not shown that Defendants violated his “clearly established” rights.

Schifanelli v. Loveday

District Court, District of Columbia · Mar 31, 2026

Qualified immunity “Government officials enjoy qualified immunity from suit under [Section] 1983 unless their conduct violates clearly established law.” Zorn v. Linton, No. 25-297, 2026 WL 795469, at *2 (U.S. … June 9, 2025) (denying a motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity in a case that did not involve a drug-sniffing dog because Rodriguez is clearly established law).

James Vandevender v. Captain Walter Sass

970 F.3d 972 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jul 31, 2020

Qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from civil liability “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.

Lopez v. Robinson

914 F.2d 486 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Sep 17, 1990

the qualified immunity inquiry. … The prison officials have qualified immunity from both claims.

Cottone v. Jenne

326 F.3d 1352 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 11, 2003

[u]nless 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.” Id. … The Supreme Court has established a two-part test to determine the applicability of qualified immunity.

Miller v. Gammie

335 F.3d 889 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 9, 2003

a complaining witness in presenting a judge with a supporting affidavit to establish probable cause for an arrest. … We must now recognize that beyond those functions historically recognized as absolutely immune at common law, qualified and only qualified immunity exists.

Michael Hampton v. State of California

83 F.4th 754 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Oct 3, 2023

“The doctrine of qualified immunity shields officials from civil liability so long as their conduct ‘does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.’” … To be clearly established, the relevant right must have been defined more narrowly.