Case law

Falkner v. Houston

974 F. Supp. 757 · District Court, D. Nebraska · Mar 6, 1997

The only issue to be decided by the court “is purely a legal one: whether the facts alleged (by the plaintiff, or, in some cases, the defendant) support a claim of violation of clearly established law.” … For the right to be clearly established, “[t]he 'contours' of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right ...

AHE Realty Assoc., LLC v. Miami-Dade Cnty.

320 F. Supp. 3d 1322 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Jun 29, 2018

Qualified Immunity Naranjo also states he is entitled to qualified immunity. … A defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal "unless the plaintiff's allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law." Cottone v. Jenne , 326 F.3d 1352 , 1357 (11th Cir. 2003).

Pena ex rel. Estate of Cornell v. Givens

637 F. App'x 775 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Nov 23, 2015

Sheehan, — U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 1765, 1776 , 191 L.Ed.2d 856 (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.

Montville v. Lewis

87 F.3d 900 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 1, 1996

Cabrera, 58 F.3d 290, 292 (7th Cir.1995), and, finding that the defendants’ conduct did not violate “clearly established law” and thus was shielded by qualified immunity, we reverse. … In light of our conclusion that qualified immunity was proper as to the September search, it necessarily follows that using information gained during that inspection was reasonable and did not violate clearly established

Knight v. Trotter

District Court, E.D. Michigan · Jun 5, 2023

Since Hughes acknowledges that Knight possessed a clearly established Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessively forceful handcuffing, qualified immunity does not preclude him from standing … Kiefer, 310 F.3d 937, 944 (6th Cir. 2002) (recognizing that the “right to be free from ‘excessively forceful handcuffing’ is a clearly established right for qualified immunity purposes”).

John W. Burgess Linda M. Burgess, Husband and Wife v. Pierce County, a Municipal Corporation Joseph Stortini Jane "Doe" Stortini, Husband and Wife

918 F.2d 104 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Nov 2, 1990

The scope of our review is detailed in Mitchell : 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 … “[S]tate and local officials are entitled to qualified immunity if ‘their conduct [did] not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.’ ” Manhattan Beach

Grissom v. Roberts

902 F.3d 1162 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Aug 29, 2018

that would be decisive under clearly established law, we are compelled to hold that the Prison Officials are entitled to qualified immunity on his due-process claim.3 IV. … To overcome the defense of qualified immunity, however, Grissom must point to clearly established law. See Thomson, 584 F.3d at 1312. That, he has failed to do.

Poolaw v. Marcantel

565 F.3d 721 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · May 4, 2009

Concluding that these Fourth Amendment principles were clearly established when the incidents occurred, the court denied qualified immunity. Marcantel and Hix now appeal. … City of Las Cruces, 523 F.3d 1205, 1211-12 (10th Cir.2008) (“[T]he clearly established weight of authority from other courts” establishes a right for the purposes of qualified immunity.).

Mills v. City of Shreveport

58 F. Supp. 3d 677 · District Court, W.D. Louisiana · Sep 30, 2014

Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability in their performance of discretionary functions, unless their conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right.' See Ontiveros v. … clearly established right.

Meredith Coleman v. Nyal Frantz, Sheriff of Wells County, Indiana

754 F.2d 719 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jan 30, 1985

Since Frantz did not violate any then clearly established constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known, he was justified in asserting the qualified immunity defense. … Thiboutot, 448 U.S. 1 , 100 S.Ct. 2502 , 65 L.Ed.2d, 555 ), and that the qualified immunity is unavailable to defendants where the statutory right in such cases is clearly established.

Waller v. State

64 Wash. App. 318 · Court of Appeals of Washington · Feb 18, 1992

The Meyers court determined that the proper qualified immunity test was whether the conduct complained of "violate[d] clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.'" … The qualified immunity question is whether the caseworkers' actions violated clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Meyers , at 1158.

Spiker v. Allegheny County Board of Probation & Parole

920 F. Supp. 2d 580 · District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania · Jan 30, 2013

In order for a federally protected right to be “clearly established” for purposes of qualified immunity, “[t]he contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he [or … Whittaker may be entitled to qualified immunity for these actions, however, if it would not have been clear to a reasonable officer in her position that those actions violated clearly established law.

Zimmerman v. Doran

807 F.3d 178 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Nov 24, 2015

Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, officials are shielded from civil liability “ ‘insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would … We have held that “ ‘[consulting a prosecutor may not give an officer absolute immunity from being sued for false arrest, but it goes far to establish qualified immunity.

Heard v. Bear

District Court, N.D. Oklahoma · Feb 6, 2020

Federal law as determined by [the] Supreme Court of the United States,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1);3 (2) “resulted in a decision that . . . involved an unreasonable application of clearly established Federal law,” id.; or … Significantly, an “unreasonable application of” clearly established federal law under § 2254(d)(1) “must be objectively unreasonable, not merely wrong.” White v. Woodall, 134 S.

Van Beek v. Robinson

879 F. Supp. 2d 707 · District Court, E.D. Michigan · Jul 16, 2012

Clearly Established Law To overcome an assertion of qualified immunity, Plaintiff must also demonstrate that the constitutional right at issue was clearly established at the time of the alleged deprivation. … Defendants claim that the detention and search of Plaintiff is not “clearly established” as unlawful, and they, therefore, are entitled to qualified immunity. The Court disagrees.

Doe v. Knox County Board of Education

918 F. Supp. 181 · District Court, E.D. Kentucky · Mar 6, 1996

Qualified Immunity The Board members and superintendent argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity with regard to the claims against them in their individual capacities. … Government officials performing discretionary functions generally are immune from personal liability for civil damages so long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which

Liska v. Dart

60 F. Supp. 3d 889 · District Court, N.D. Illinois · Jul 23, 2014

“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 … In determining whether qualified immunity applies, a court considers “(1) whether the plaintiffs allegations make out a deprivation of a constitutional right, and (2) whether the right at issue was clearly established at

Adeline Lennon v. Chief William P. Miller, the City of Troy, Patrolman Donald J. Backaus, and Patrolman Peter Gordon

66 F.3d 416 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Sep 12, 1995

’s clearly established constitutional rights. … his ... actions did not violate any of those clearly established rights.

Howard Linden v. City of Southfield, Mich.

75 F.4th 597 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jul 26, 2023

And for qualified immunity purposes, any lack of clarity in Willis would only support the First Responders’ position that Linden has failed to identify a “clearly established” right. Sumpter, 868 F.3d at 480. … Unpublished cases cannot clearly establish law for purposes of qualified immunity. See Bell v. City of Southfield, 37 F.4th 362, 367 (6th Cir. 2022).

Brannum Ex Rel. Brannum v. Overton County School Board

516 F.3d 489 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Feb 20, 2008

Under the qualified immunity doctrine, public officials cannot be held liable for violating a person’s constitutional rights unless the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged improper conduct. … Creighton, 483 U.S. 635 , 107 S.Ct. 3034 , 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987), the Supreme Court articulated the meaning of “clearly established” in the context of the defense of qualified immunity: The contours of the right must be sufficiently