Case law

Rodriguez Vazquez v. Lopez-Martinez

253 F. Supp. 2d 164 · District Court, D. Puerto Rico · Feb 21, 2003

The Defendants raised the issue of their qualified immunity in the Answer to the Complaint (affirmative defense). 2. The Defendants had the burden to prove their affirmative defense of qualified immunity. 3. … The law on politically motivated terminations is clearly established. 6.

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.

Finch v. Wemlinger

310 N.W.2d 66 · Supreme Court of Minnesota · Sep 11, 1981

In Scheuer the Court defined qualified immunity in these words: [I]n varying scope, a qualified immunity is available to officers of the executive branch of government, the variation being dependent upon the scope of discretion … We will continue to apply the federal standard of qualified immunity in actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 brought in state court. The burden of pleading the defense of qualified immunity rests with defendants, Gomez v.

Dziekan v. Gaynor

376 F. Supp. 2d 267 · District Court, D. Connecticut · Jun 13, 2005

Thus, qualified immunity shields law enforcement officers from suits for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , unless their actions violate clearly-established rights of which an objectively reasonable person would have known. … Thus, a qualified immunity defense is established where “(a) the defendant’s action did not violate clearly established law, or (b) it was objectively reasonable for the defendant to believe that his action did not violate

Kennedy v. Dexter Consolidated Schools

124 N.M. 764 · New Mexico Court of Appeals · Apr 2, 1998

They are entitled to a “qualified immunity,” which relieves them of liability if “their conduct [did] not violate clearly established [federal] statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known … of the search was “clearly established” at the time of the search. (42) Based on the above analysis, three of the individual Defendants have no qualified immunity with respect to the search of Crystal Kennedy.

Johnson v. Wright

234 F. Supp. 2d 352 · District Court, S.D. New York · Dec 6, 2002

Violation of Clearly Established Law The Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of what constitutes “clearly established law” for purposes of the qualified immunity defense. See Hope v. … Objective Reasonableness of Officers’ Actions It is not sufficient for the qualified immunity analysis to determine that the right violated was clearly established at the time of its violation.

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.

Winnie v. Clarke

893 F. Supp. 875 · District Court, D. Nebraska · Jul 11, 1995

Qualified Immunity Prison officials are entitled to qualified immunity from suit unless (1) the officials’ conduct violates a clearly established statutory or constitutional right; (2) the officials knew or should have known … Furthermore, I found that the plaintiff had a clearly established right to call witnesses at his disciplinary hearing and that the defendants’ refusal to do so was not protected under the doctrine of qualified immunity.

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.

Farmer v. Perrill

288 F.3d 1254 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · May 3, 2002

When a § 1983 defendant raises the defense of qualified immunity on summary judgment, the plaintiff must show the law was clearly established when the alleged violation occurred and must come forward with … sufficient facts to show the official violated that clearly established law.

Florance v. Buchmeyer

500 F. Supp. 2d 618 · District Court, N.D. Texas · Jul 31, 2007

To determine whether a defendant is entitled to qualified immunity, the threshold question is whether, on the facts as alleged by plaintiff, a clearly established constitutional right would have been violated. … In addressing a claim of qualified immunity, a court must first determine whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established constitutional right, which is a purely legal question. Siegert v.

Swint v. City of Wadley

51 F.3d 988 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · May 9, 1995

Qualified Immunity Law The district court denied the three individual defendants’ motions for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. The denial of qualified immunity is a question of law to be reviewed de novo. … Because such a due process right was not clearly established at the time of the raids in this case, Sheriff Morgan, Chief Morgan and Officer Dendinger are entitled to qualified immunity on the due process claims.

City of San Juan, Texas, City of San Juan Police Officers, Juan Rodriguez, Alfredo Lara & Severiano Martinez, & City of San Juan Chief of Police Samuel Soto v. Gonzales, Juan R.

Texas Court of Appeals, 13th District · Jun 1, 2000

the officers are entitled to qualified immunity under federal law as their actions in effecting appellee's arrest were lawful in light of clearly established law and the information possessed by the officers at the time … If there is, we determine whether the government official's "actions were objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law," entitling him to qualified immunity. Id .

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 . .

Ahearn v. Vose

64 Mass. App. Ct. 403 · Massachusetts Appeals Court · Sep 2, 2005

Qualified immunity. … Having considered whether there was an Eighth Amendment violation, we next consider, for purposes of qualified immunity analysis, whether the constitutional right violated was clearly established at the time.

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.

Kathleen Meehan v. Officer Scott Thompson

763 F.3d 936 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Aug 14, 2014

Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil liability insofar as their conduct in performing discretionary functions “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Meehan asserts that Thompson is not entitled to qualified immunity because he violated her clearly established Fourth Amendment rights in two ways: first by arresting her without a reasonable belief that she was intoxicated

Sheck Mulbah v. Cody Jansen

55 F.4th 1164 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Dec 22, 2022

The district court found a genuine dispute of material fact about whether there was probable cause to stop the van and also found the law governing the stop was clearly established. … Similarly, to determine whether Jansen violated clearly established law, we need to know what happened.

Kenneth Bailey v. Shawn T. Swindell

940 F.3d 1295 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Oct 16, 2019

,” and qualified immunity applies. … established’ step of the qualified-immunity analysis.”

Breuder v. Board of Trustees

238 F. Supp. 3d 1054 · District Court, N.D. Illinois · Mar 3, 2017

Defeating qualified immunity requires (1) conduct violating the plaintiffs constitutional or statutory rights that is (2) clearly established at the time of the violation such that a “reasonable official would understand … Here, the Individual Defendants claim that, even if there was a violation, it was not clearly established.