Case law
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Tortu v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
556 F.3d 1075 · Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Mar 3, 2009
’ qualified immunity claims. … The determination of qualified immunity at step two is strictly a legal question of whether, even though the facts alleged by the plaintiff make out a constitutional violation, that constitutional right was not clearly established
Cited 132 timesPublishedReynaldo Ramirez v. Jim Wells County, Texas
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 24, 2013
Because there was no false arrest, no constitutional violation occurred, and, accordingly, we have no occasion to reach the part of the qualified immunity analysis that asks whether the law was clearly established. … We have explained the ‘clearly established’ prong as follows: Qualified immunity should not be denied unless the law is clear in the more particularized sense that reasonable officials should be “on notice
Cited 0 timesPublished839 F.2d 1422 · Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Dec 28, 1987
Muhammad further argues that because this area of the law was clearly established, defendants should not be permitted to avail themselves of qualified immunity. … Broadly defining “clearly established law” as Muhammad suggests significantly undermines part of the rationale for the qualified immunity defense.
Cited 66 timesPublishedMichael L. Davis v. John Zirkelbach
149 F.3d 614 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Jul 9, 1998
Ordinarily, because Lenn is entitled to qualified immunity from a suit based on the legal advice he gave to the police officers, we would ask whether his actions violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional … In Harlow , the Supreme Court explained its scope as follows: *620 If the law was clearly established, the immunity defense ordinarily should fail, since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing
Cited 74 timesPublished130 F.3d 96 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 29, 1998
Disputes over the application of the clearly-established-law prong of the qualified-immunity inquiry are separable from the merits of a controversy because “‘[a]n appellate court reviewing the denial of the defendant … The semantic switch from discussing the typical qualified-immunity issue of “clearly established law” to a hypothetical (in Behrens) issue of “objective legal reasonableness” creates many of the problems that are now plaguing
Cited 36 timesPublishedDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin · May 8, 2023
O’Neil’s qualified immunity argument fails due to those factual disputes as well. See Taylor v. … City of Milford, 10 F.4th 800, 808 (7th Cir. 2021) (court should not grant summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds where “determining whether [defendant’s] violation of [plaintiff’s] rights was clearly established
Cited 0 timesUnknown148 F.3d 113 · Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · Jun 22, 1998
Qualified Immunity i. … Even “[w]here a right is clearly established, ‘the defendants may nonetheless establish immunity by showing that reasonable persons in their position would not have understood that their conduct was within the scope of the
Cited 53 timesPublishedConrad Noyola v. Texas Department of Human Resources
846 F.2d 1021 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 15, 1988
Second, if the first amendment rights were not “clearly established” at the time Noyola was terminated, 1 Appellants may defend on the basis of qualified official immunity from suit. … Consequently, Appellants could not have violated any “clearly established constitutional rights,” and they are protected by qualified immunity from suit. III.
Cited 73 timesPublishedDistrict Court, District of Columbia · Jul 25, 2025
And if he fails to show that his asserted right was clearly established after a defendant officer asserts qualified immunity, courts properly grant the officer’s motion to dismiss. E.g., Turpin v. Ray, 319 F. … Cir. 2016) (affirming dismissal of a complaint on qualified-im- munity grounds when the plaintiff had not shown that the right at issue was clearly established at the time of the purported violation).
Cited 0 timesPublishedWilliams v. Mayor & City Council
128 Md. App. 1 · Court of Special Appeals of Maryland · Sep 7, 1999
The Maryland case law establishes unequivocally that police officers in the course of their public duties are public officials within the contemplation of the qualified immunity law. … We hold that in enacting the immunity provision of Ch. 307 of the Acts of 1979, it clearly was not the legislative intent to diminish or to curtail in any way the qualified immunity otherwise enjoyed by a law enforcement
Reversed on other grounds by Williams v. Mayor of Baltimore, 359 Md. 101 (2000)Cited 8 timesPublishedAnthony Novak v. City of Parma, Ohio
33 F.4th 296 · Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Apr 29, 2022
Qualified immunity protects state officers against section 1983 claims unless (1) “they violated a federal statutory or constitutional right, and (2) the unlawfulness of their conduct was clearly established at the time” … So to prevail on his claim, Novak must show it was clearly established that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him. Because he hasn’t done so, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity.
Cited 45 timesPublishedDavid A. Connelly v. Comptroller of the Currency
876 F.2d 1209 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 7, 1989
We must address in turn whether any of these claims rests upon such clearly established law that the defendants have forfeited their qualified immunity from suit. … established as to abrogate the defendants’ qualified immunity.
Cited 71 timesPublished955 F. Supp. 2d 1138 · District Court, D. Hawaii · Jun 24, 2013
“Qualified immunity entitles [police officers] not to stand trial or face the other burdens of litigation’ on [a constitutional] claim, provided their conduct did not violate a clearly established federal right.” … to qualified immunity.
Cited 0 timesPublished684 F. Supp. 2d 589 · District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania · Feb 4, 2010
and official immunity and remain immune from suit except as the General Assembly shall specifically waive the immunity. … The court specifically distinguished the immunity for an employee of the Commonwealth versus the immunity conferred by statute upon the employee of a municipality: We note that the immunity defense provided by the General
Cited 38 timesPublishedForbes v. Township of Lower Merion
313 F.3d 144 · Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Dec 11, 2002
For instance, we may "review whether the set of facts identified by the district court is sufficient to establish a violation of a clearly established constitutional right," but we may not "consider whether the district court … a violation of a clearly established constitutional right," Ziccardi, 288 F.3d at 61 , but based on the District Court's spare comments in denying the defendants' summary-judgment motion, we are hard pressed to carry out
Cited 13 timesPublished547 F.3d 707 · Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · Oct 27, 2008
Qualified immunity protects government officials from liability for civil damages if their actions did not violate “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” … immunity, and (2) the issue appealed concerned not which facts the parties might be able to prove, but rather whether or not those facts showed a violation of clearly established law.
Cited 63 timesPublishedDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi · Jan 11, 2022
Thomas, 843 F.3d 172, 177 (5th Cir. 2016) (“Qualified immunity protects officers from suit unless their conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right.”) (quoting Mace v. … Qualified immunity calls for a bifurcated test in which the court must first determine (1) “whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established statutory or constitutional right that was clearly established
Cited 0 timesUnknownKimberly Bennett v. Kentucky Community & Technical College System
Kentucky Supreme Court · Aug 14, 2025
It is well established that “an immunity defense is an appealable issue by interlocutory appeal.” Baker v. Fields, 543 S.W.3d 575, 577 (Ky. 2018). … Our Court subsequently concluded that orders denying qualified official immunity and legislative immunity are also immediately appealable. Meinhart v. Louisville Metro Gov’t, 627 S.W.3d 824, 830 (Ky. 2021); Stivers v.
Cited 0 timesPublished990 F.2d 381 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Apr 1, 1993
they violated a clearly established constitutional right. … That finding is not clearly erroneous.
Cited 26 timesPublishedEdward Chevallier v. Deputy Sheriff Joel Hand
722 F.3d 1101 · Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · Jul 18, 2013
In response, Deputies Hand and Floyd asserted qualified immunity. … Deputy Hand argues that such a requirement was not clearly established at the time of Chevallier's arrest.
Cited 4 timesPublished
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