Civil Rights Law Firm - Qualified Immunity
The Supreme Court has summarized qualified immunity as follows:
"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 would have known." Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009).
To defeat qualified immunity, someone bringing a claim for a constitutional rights violation must show (1) that a government official violated a constitutional right, and (2) that the official's conduct was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established law.
It is a very difficult burden to overcome. As the Supreme Court stated in Pearson, qualified immunity is intended "to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably."
Why is qualified immunity important?
In most cases, trying to sue "the government" (i.e., state, county, or city) is a waste of time. The government is usually protected by sovereign immunity, and government officials fall within that protection for the vast majority of their actions.
In civil rights cases under 42 U.S.C. 1983, however, the claims usually allege the government official abused their authority. In other words, the government official acted "under color of law" to deprive someone of their civil rights. These claims are brought against an official individually, meaning the allegation is that the government official stepped outside their protected (immune) status to deprive someone of their rights.
These are valid claims. However, the government official usually responds by claiming qualified immunity. The judge then sorts out the issue and decides if the lawsuit can proceed.
Qualified immunity can be very tricky. It is extremely important to choose a civil rights law firm experienced in qualified immunity issues, such as Cronauer Law.
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