Case Name: Suzanne LeFRERE, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Elaine Garner, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Jorge QUEZADA, Defendant-Appellant, Baldwin County Commission, James B. Johnson, Steve Arthur, Defendants
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2009-12-04
Citations: 588 F.3d 1317
Docket Number: No. 09-10024
Parties: Suzanne LeFRERE, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Elaine Garner, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Jorge QUEZADA, Defendant-Appellant, Baldwin County Commission, James B. Johnson, Steve Arthur, Defendants.
Judges: Before CARNES and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and DOWD, District Judge.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 3d Series
Volume: 588
Pages: 1317–1318

Head Matter:
Suzanne LeFRERE, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Elaine Garner, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ross Paul Yates, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Jorge QUEZADA, Defendant-Appellant, Baldwin County Commission, James B. Johnson, Steve Arthur, Defendants.
No. 09-10024.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Dec. 4, 2009.
Tracy P. Turner, Johnstone Adams, Mobile, AL, for Quezada.
Thomas E. James, Morris, Haynes & Mornsby, Birmingham, AL, for LeFrere.
Kristi Allen McDonald, McDonald & McDonald, Birmingham, AL, for Amicus Curiae Ass’n of Cty. Com’ns of AL.
Before CARNES and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and DOWD, District Judge.
Honorable David D. Dowd, Jr., United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.

Opinion:
CARNES, Circuit Judge:
We recently issued an opinion certifying to the Alabama Supreme Court this question of state law: "Are jailers, like sheriffs and their deputies, absolutely immune from state claims for money damages based on actions taken within the scope of their employment?" LeFrere v. Quezada, 582 F.3d 1260, 1269 (11th Cir.2009). We did so because we needed to know whether the A'ne-guess we made twelve years ago in Lancaster v. Monroe County, 116 F.3d 1419, 1431 (11th Cir.1997), that jailers were entitled to that immunity was an accurate statement of Alabama law. LeFrere, 582 F.3d at 1268. Only seven days after we issued our opinion certifying that question, the answer came from the Alabama Supreme Court in another case. See Ex parte Shelley, — So.3d-, Nos. 1080588, 1080863, 2009 WL 2997498 (Ala. Sept. 18, 2009).
Because of the Shelley decision, we now know that our Lancaster decision is not an accurate statement of Alabama law. We now know that jailers are not entitled to absolute state immunity under Art. I, § 14 of the Alabama Constitution. Because that is all we need to know to decide this appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court quite understandably and politely declined to answer our certified question in light of its Shelley decision. Quezada v. LeFrere, No. 1081741 (Ala. Dec. 1, 2009). The Shelley decision is the answer to our question.
Because the Shelley decision effectively overrules our Lancaster decision on the issue of absolute immunity for Alabama jailers facing state law claims, Officer Quezada's motion to dismiss on that ground was properly denied.
AFFIRMED.