Case law

Ammons v. Washington Department of Social & Health Services

648 F.3d 1020 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Aug 17, 2011

In reviewing the denial of qualified immunity, we consider the “purely legal issue of whether facts alleged by the plaintiff support a claim of violation of clearly established law” such that appellants are not immune from … This conclusion, at least, serves as clearly established law.

Donald Gravelet-Blondin v. Sgt Jeff Shelton

728 F.3d 1086 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Sep 6, 2013

Qualified Immunity Even so, Sgt. Shelton is entitled to qualified immunity if his conduct did not “violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. … The court granted qualified immunity, however, finding that the law in 2004 was not sufficiently well-established to have alerted officers that this use of force was unconstitutional.

Hart v. Miller

609 N.W.2d 138 · South Dakota Supreme Court · Apr 19, 2000

To find whether qualified immunity applies, the test is to ask if the officer’s conduct violated clearly established statutory or constitutional rights a reasonable officer would have known at the time. Harlow v. … the action, assessed in light of the legal rules that were “clearly established” at the time it was taken.

Duerscherl v. Foley

681 F. Supp. 1364 · District Court, D. Minnesota · Jun 25, 1987

If Foley was not entitled to absolute immunity, he would certainly be entitled to qualified immunity. … Failure to show that the asserted interest is protected by the due process clause essentially establishes the defense of qualified immunity. 3 .

Joshua Venckus v. City of Iowa City

930 N.W.2d 792 · Supreme Court of Iowa · Jun 28, 2019

One well-established immunity is the judicial process immunity. … Against this regulatory backdrop, the abandonment of the absolute immunity in favor of qualified immunity is unnecessary to achieve Venckus's stated policy objectives.

Rosario-Diaz v. Diaz-Martinez

112 F.3d 1 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Apr 24, 1997

If the pretrial rejection of the qualified immunity defense is based on a purely legal ground, such as a finding that the conduct described by the plaintiff, assuming it occurred, transgressed a clearly … deliberate indifference on his part, and, thus, he was entitled (at the least) to qualified immunity.

Tamala Jones v. Logan Kulesa

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jun 18, 2026

immunity is inappropriate where the record does not conclusively establish the lawfulness of an officer’s use of force. … violated a clearly established federal right.’”

Tiffanie Hupp v. State Trooper Seth Cook

931 F.3d 307 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Jul 25, 2019

“The doctrine of qualified immunity shields government officials from liability for civil damages when their conduct does not violate clearly established constitutional or other rights that a reasonable officer would have … An official is not entitled to qualified immunity if he or she deprived an individual of a constitutional right and that right was clearly established at the time of the violation. Pearson, 555 U.S. at 231.

Volpi v. Center Moriches Union Free School District

9 F. Supp. 3d 255 · District Court, E.D. New York · Mar 24, 2014

Qualified immunity protects an official from civil liability if their conduct does not “violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Taravella v. … When evaluating whether qualified immunity applies, the court must engage in a two-part inquiry: 1) whether the constitutional right has been violated; and 2) whether that right was clearly established at the time of the

Ecclesiastical Order of the Ism of Am, Inc. v. Chasin

845 F.2d 113 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Apr 18, 1988

clearly established law and the information the official possessed. 483 U.S. at -, 107 S.Ct. at 3040 , 97 L.Ed.2d at 532 . … Applying this standard of qualified immunity, the district court correctly found that none of the actions taken by the defendants violated any of the plaintiffs’ clearly established constitutional or statutory rights.

Pozdol v. City of Miami

996 F. Supp. 2d 1290 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Jan 29, 2014

To defeat a claim to qualified immunity, a plaintiff must demonstrate: “(1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the challenged conduct … To establish a defense of qualified immunity a Defendant must show, as a preliminary matter, that the challenged conduct forms a discretionary duty of his office. See infra discussion of qualified immunity in Part.

Willie Flowers v. Nicholas Renfro

46 F.4th 631 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Aug 19, 2022

“Because qualified immunity pro- tects the public officer from the expense and distraction of having to stand trial when the conduct in question did not vi- olate clearly established law, the unavailability of an immedi- … If a determination of qualified immunity in a summary judgment motion depends on the resolution of fact questions, the order denying qualified immunity generally is not appeal- able. Johnson v.

Nathan Rinne v. Greg Hasty

140 F.4th 470 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jun 9, 2025

record violated a clearly established federal right.” … There are factual disputes as to these issues, and “[i]n order for us to reach [the Commissioners’] ‘legal argument’ that [they] . . . did not violate clearly established law, we would have to exceed our jurisdiction . .

Advanced Bldg. & Fabrication, Inc. v. Cal. Highway Patrol

918 F.3d 654 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 13, 2019

Honan contends that Ayers violated clearly established law by participating in the search. We agree. … DISCUSSION To survive a claim of qualified immunity, the plaintiff must show: "(1) that the right was violated; and (2) that the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct." Isayeva v.

Gregory Lambert, as Administrator of the Estate of Harrison Lambert v. Town of Merrimack, et al.

2019 DNH 053 · District Court, D. New Hampshire · Aug 6, 2018

Where, as here, the movant raises a qualified immunity defense, the nonmoving party has the burden of demonstrating that the law was clearly established during the relevant time period. See Mitchell v. … Construed generously, the Estate's objection contains citations to six decisions bearing on the clearly established prong of qualified immunity.

Shawna Hess v. Carol Abels

714 F.3d 1048 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Apr 26, 2013

If it was not clearly established, regardless of whether Hess has articulated a constitutional violation, the City employees are entitled to qualified immunity. See Livers v. … There are two primary obstacles to Lesher’s capacity to serve as clearly established law for the purposes of this qualified immunity analysis.

Shaw v. Villanueva

918 F.3d 414 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 11, 2019

III Villanueva and Ebrom argue that since the court granted Phillips and Morin qualified immunity, they should be immune too. … , Shaw has not appealed Phillips' qualified immunity.

Wright v. Rolette County

417 F.3d 879 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Aug 8, 2005

If the answer is no, we grant qualified immunity. If the answer is yes, we go on to determine "whether the right was clearly established." Id. … I write separately in regards to section III.D.2 of the opinion, which discusses the clearly established prong of the qualified immunity inquiry.

Syble McDaniel v. Thomas B. Woodard, Iv, Individually and in His Official Capacity as District Judge of Pickens County, Alabama

886 F.2d 311 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Oct 18, 1989

When a defendant advances a defense of qualified immunity, the “plaintiff bears the burden of showing that ‘the legal norms allegedly violated by the defendant were clearly established at the time of the challenged actions … Even assuming that talking with the district attorney about a suspected crime is a clearly established constitutional right — and McDaniel cites no case clearly establishing such a right in this circuit — no *315 clearly

Jessica McKee v. Jessica Brady

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Aug 17, 2026

“Government officials performing discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” … We therefore conclude that Brady is entitled to qualified immunity.