Case law

Wyno v. Lowndes County

305 Ga. 523 · Supreme Court of Georgia · Feb 18, 2019

As a result, there has developed what has become known as qualified immunity or official immunity for public officials and employees. … a means of varying that immunity by legislative act.

National Black Police Association, Inc. v. Richard W. Velde

712 F.2d 569 · Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · Jun 30, 1983

The liability standard announced in Harlow entitles appellees to qualified immunity on summary judgment unless such clear duties existed. … Prior to Harlow, summary judgment on questions of qualified immunity generally required both subjective and objective determinations.

Kathleen Hayes v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago

Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · May 28, 2026

This is “[b]ecause 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.” Bayon v. … Although we decide the issue at the second step of the qualified immunity analysis (did case law clearly establish Lyons would be violating Hayes’s constitutional right?)

Catherine Gossman v. Dr. David T. Allen Chris Gorman Irv Maze Darryl Owens and Harvey Sloane, Louisville & Jefferson County Board of Health

950 F.2d 338 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Dec 12, 1991

A government official enjoys qualified immunity if his or her conduct does not violate clearly established federal “statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. … The court’s only holding directly relating to the “clearly established” issue was that “[t]he legal rights of citizens under the first amendment to the United States Constitution were clearly established at the time plaintiff

Burke v. Pitts

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Nov 4, 2025

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.” … In Tenorio, we affirmed the denial of a summary judgment motion seeking qualified immunity because the evidence supported a violation of clearly established law. 802 F.3d at 1161.

White v. Lucero

135 F.4th 1213 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Apr 28, 2025

Clearly Established Law Because courts “are free to decide which prong to address first” in the two- prong qualified immunity inquiry, we choose to begin with whether clearly established law exists that applies to … First, “[d]istrict court cases lack the precedential weight necessary to clearly establish the law for qualified immunity purposes.” Crane v. Utah Dep’t of Corr., 15 F.4th 1296, 1306 (10th Cir. 2021).

Angie Chesser, A.K.A. Angie Kimball v. Amos Sparks, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Haralson County Commissioner

248 F.3d 1117 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Apr 18, 2000

violation of a clearly established constitutional right." … Evaluating the defense of qualified immunity involves a two step inquiry: first, whether the defendant’s conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right; and, second, whether a reasonable government official would

Curtis Sherrod v. Dr. Arthur Johnson

667 F.3d 1359 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 23, 2012

clearly established law. … Qualified immunity offers complete protection for individual public officials performing discretionary functions “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which

Key v. Grayson

179 F.3d 996 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Jun 9, 1999

Overview The defense of qualified immunity grants government officials engaged in discretionary activities immunity from individual liability for civil damages unless their conduct violates “clearly established statutory … established prior to 1996 in order to preclude a finding of qualified immunity.

Aldaba v. Marshall County

777 F.3d 1148 · Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · Feb 4, 2015

Qualified Immunity: General Policies “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 … In its sole reference to the second prong of qualified immunity—clearly established law—the district court simply noted that “[t]he reasonableness standard is clearly established for the purposes of a section 1983 action

Wright v. Whiddon

951 F.2d 297 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Jan 14, 1992

“clearly established” legal right. … In order for a right to be clearly established and defeat an official’s claim to qualified immunity, [t]he contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing

Vosburgh v. Bourassa

2008 DNH 133 · District Court, D. New Hampshire · Aug 5, 2008

So, where this type of constitutional violation is established there is no room for qualified immunity. … Malicious and sadistic use of force is always in violation of clearly established law, so qualified immunity affords no protections to defendants 20  in Eighth Amendment excessive

Bagley v. Guillen

90 F.4th 799 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jan 10, 2024

Ho, Circuit Judge: Two established principles of law govern this qualified immunity appeal. … The district court granted qualified immunity with respect to the unlawful arrest and illegal detention claims. But the court denied qualified immunity as to Bagley’s excessive force claim.

West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority v. A.B.

234 W. Va. 492 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Oct 31, 2014

Va.Code, 29-12A-1 et seq. is entitled to qualified immunity from personal liability for official acts if the involved conduct did not violate clearly established laws of which a reasonable official would have known. … official’s personal, qualified immunity for discretionary judgments and functions which are neither in violation of a “clearly established law” nor “fraudulent, malicious, or otherwise oppressive.”

Jordan v. Carter

Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Nov 4, 2005

With such a sequential approach, the law continues to develop and become more “clearly established” over time. … Clearly Established Right The second stage of the qualified immunity inquiry requires us to determine whether the right we have identified was “‘reasonably well settled at the time of the challenged conduct,’” Mihos

Francisco v. Long

132 F.3d 42 · Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · Dec 31, 1997

Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982) (establishing the qualified immunity defense). … In other words, once the qualified immunity defense is raised, the plaintiff has the burden of identifying a clearly established right, of which a reasonable person would have known, and alleging facts showing the defendant

Act Up!/Portland v. Bagley

988 F.2d 868 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Jul 24, 1992

II QUALIFIED IMMUNITY We review a district court’s denial of a qualified immunity defense de novo. Baker v. Racansky, 887 F.2d 183, 185 (9th Cir.1989). … When a law enforcement officer asserts qualified immunity from liability for Fourth Amendment violations, the district court must determine whether, in light of clearly established principles governing the conduct in question

Thompson v. City of Monticello, Ark.

894 F.3d 993 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jul 6, 2018

“Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability in a § 1983 action unless their conduct violates a clearly established right of which a reasonable official would have known.” Id. … “A clearly established right is one that is ‘sufficiently clear that every reasonable official 2 The district court did not reach the second-prong of the qualified immunity analysis, finding that it was “

Jessica Jauch v. Choctaw County

874 F.3d 425 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 24, 2017

Qualified Immunity and Sheriff Halford Sheriff Halford asserts qualified immunity. Jauch bears the burden of showing that he is not so entitled. Hanks v. Rogers, 853 F.3d 738, 744 (5th Cir. 2017). … Tellingly, Sheriff Halford’s arguments relating to qualified immunity do not even mention Jones.

E.W. v. Rosemary Dolgos

884 F.3d 172 · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Feb 12, 2018

Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability in a § 1983 suit so long as their conduct did not violate “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known … We emphasize, however, that our excessive force holding is clearly established for any future qualified immunity cases involving similar circumstances.