Case law

Monetti v. City of Seattle

875 F. Supp. 2d 1221 · District Court, W.D. Washington · Jun 21, 2012

Qualified Immunity Analysis Qualified immunity shields public officials from civil damages for the performance of their discretionary functions. … Even if the constitutional rights of the plaintiff were violated, unless the right is clearly established, the officer is entitled to qualified immunity. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151 .

Clark v. Ware

873 F. Supp. 2d 1117 · District Court, E.D. Missouri · Jun 4, 2012

Qualified immunity Both Johnson and Ware raise the issue of qualified immunity. … immunity was still appropriate, however, because the law was not clearly established)).

Tripp v. Department of Defense

173 F. Supp. 2d 58 · District Court, District of Columbia · Nov 30, 2001

Defendants Did Not Violate Clearly Established Law Most executive officials are immune from suits alleging constitutional and statutory violations unless they violate “clearly established” statutory or constitutional rights … In discussing the qualified immunity standard, those courts have focused primarily on the question of a violation of clearly established law. See, e.g., Anderson v.

Jordan v. Sinsheimer

403 Mass. 586 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Dec 14, 1988

The defendant asserts that at least qualified immunity is available to him because his conduct did not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. … One issue is whether on clearly established principles of law, he could have reasonably believed his acts to be lawful. Breault v. Chairman of the Bd. of Fire Comm’rs of Springfield, 401 Mass. 26 , 32 (1987).

Gressley v. Deutsch

890 F. Supp. 1474 · District Court, D. Wyoming · Oct 5, 1994

and law to establish that the defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity. … immunity and do more than identify, in the abstract, a clearly established right.

Baptie v. Bruno and McNeil

195 Vt. 308 · Supreme Court of Vermont · Dec 6, 2013

We first address the superior court’s ruling that defendant is entitled to qualified official immunity under, the circumstances of this case. * “Qualified immunity attaches to public officials who are (1) acting during the … An objective person in defendant’s position could not have believed that his conduct violated clearly established law. ¶ 16.

Lewis v. Delgado

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jan 7, 2026

The district court refused to grant qualified immunity to the officers at the summary-judgment stage. Because the officers did not violate any clearly established law by handcuffing Lewis, we REVERSE. … With or without notice, the Officers’ conduct does not amount to a violation of clearly established law. 3 The district court should have granted qualified immunity to the Officers.

Peltier v. Sacks

328 F. Supp. 3d 1170 · District Court, W.D. Washington · Jul 16, 2018

was not clearly established. 4 Under the qualified immunity doctrine, "government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate … A two-part test resolves claims of qualified immunity by determining whether plaintiffs have alleged facts that "make out a violation of a constitutional right," and if so, whether the "right at issue was 'clearly established

James Setchfield v. Scott Ronald

109 F.4th 1084 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jul 31, 2024

“To defeat qualified immunity, [the plaintiff] must prove that: (1) the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to him, demonstrate the deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; and (2) the right was clearly established … Under these circumstances, it was unreasonable to use more than de minimis force against him.3 Since Setchfield has established his excessive-force claim, we next turn to the clearly established prong of the qualified-immunity

Harrill v. Blount County

55 F.3d 1123 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · May 31, 1995

A violation of a clearly established state law can only surmount qualified immunity if it embodies the federal right that is the basis of the § 1983 action. Davis v. … Thus, the defendants did not violate the plaintiff’s clearly established federal rights, and therefore they have qualified immunity from plaintiffs § 1983 claims.

State of West Virginia ex rel. Gabriel Devono and The Board of Education of Randloph County v. The Honorable David H. Wilmoth, Judge of the Circuit Court of Randolph Coutny, Sherman Arbogast, and Marlene Arbogast

West Virginia Supreme Court · Jun 15, 2023

Devono now assert the defense of qualified immunity? … Hall, 828 F.3d 298, 303 (4th Cir. 2016) (“Qualified immunity shields government officials from personal liability when their conduct does not violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known

Lena Davenport v. Borough of Homestead

870 F.3d 273 · Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Aug 29, 2017

clearly established law. … IV “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

Obert v. State

419 Mont. 1 · Montana Supreme Court · Nov 12, 2024

Qualified Prosecutorial Immunity. … Ct. at 2815 (government officer “entitled to dismissal” of compensatory civil claim due to qualified immunity “[u]nless the [complaint] allegations” are facially sufficient to “state a claim of violation of clearly established

Vargas-Badillo v. Diaz-Torres

114 F.3d 3 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · May 30, 1997

The Qualified Immunity Standard A. … of clearly established law, was met.

Armstrong v. Daily

786 F.3d 529 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 11, 2015

In holding that the complaint alleges a violation of clearly established constitutional law, we express no opinion on the propriety of qualified immunity at a later stage of litigation. E. … The qualified immunity defense focuses instead on whether the official defendant’s conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right.

Cathy Neely, Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross v. Stephen Feinstein, Defendants-Appellants-Cross

50 F.3d 1502 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Apr 3, 1995

Defendant Feinstein The district court concluded that Feinstein was not entitled to qualified immunity because the law was clearly established that hospital officials must ensure their patients’ safety, and that the record … Was the Law Clearly Established?

Sheth v. Webster

145 F.3d 1231 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 2, 1998

suit unless they violate clearly established law”). … The same facts which establish Sergeant Williams’ entitlement to qualified immunity establish that his acts were not willful, malicious or in bad faith.

Gray v. State

624 A.2d 479 · Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · May 11, 1993

On a motion by Levesque, the court dismissed the civil rights claim finding that Levesque did not violate any clearly established statutory or constitutional rights and therefore was en *482 titled to qualified immunity. … Malice or improper motive, alone, is not sufficient to defeat qualified immunity. Myers, 810 F.2d at 1457 . An official’s entitlement to qualified immunity is a legal, not a factual issue. Snell v.

Norman v. Schuetzle

585 F.3d 1097 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Nov 9, 2009

Where “the unlawfulness of the officers’ conduct ... was not clearly established, [the officers] are entitled to qualified immunity.” Pearson, 129 S.Ct. at 823 . … In analyzing a claim of qualified immunity, we therefore look at the specific actions of the officer to determine whether it was clearly established that his actions violated the inmate’s rights.

Bruce Anderson v. State of Texas

913 F.3d 472 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jan 14, 2019

Qualified immunity “protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.” 7 To overcome a defendant’s assertion of qualified immunity on summary judgment, “a plaintiff must show that the evidence … immunity because the law was not clearly established at the time of the alleged retaliation, we end our inquiry and reverse the district court’s denial of summary judgment on the individual- capacity claim. 25