Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/16pdf/15-1358_6khn.pdf
Page Number: 44.0

6 

ZIGLAR v. ABBASI 

Opinion of THOMAS, J. 

The  Constitution  assigns  this  kind  of  balancing  to  Con-
gress, not the Courts.

In  today’s  decision,  we  continue  down  the  path  our
precedents have marked.  We ask “whether it would have 
been clear to a reasonable officer that the alleged conduct
was  unlawful  in  the  situation  he  confronted,”  ante,  at  29 
(internal  quotation  marks  omitted),  rather  than  whether 
officers in petitioners’ positions would have been accorded
immunity  at  common  law  in  1871  from  claims  analogous
to respondents’.  Even if we ultimately reach a conclusion 
consistent  with  the  common-law  rules  prevailing  in  1871, 
it is mere fortuity.  Until we shift the focus of our inquiry 
to  whether  immunity  existed  at  common  law,  we  will
continue  to  substitute  our  own  policy  preferences  for  the 
mandates of Congress.  In an appropriate case, we should
reconsider our qualified immunity jurisprudence.