Opinion ID: 2978974
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Qualified-Immunity Defense

Text: The Defendants assert as an alternative ground for relief that they are entitled to qualified immunity on McCoy’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim, yet they provide this court with no substantive analysis of why this might be the case other than the bare assertion that “[t]he record is clear that [McCoy] has failed to allege or prove a violation of federal law.” Appellee Br. at 22. In the order presently on appeal, the district court also fails to address the Defendants’ qualified-immunity defense. See Doc. 36 (Dist. Ct. Order 03/31/08). Because “[i]t is the general rule . . . that a federal appellate court does not consider an issue not passed upon below,” particularly where the issue has not been briefed adequately, Katt, 983 F.2d at 695 (internal quotation marks omitted), we decline to reach the merits of the qualified-immunity defense on appeal.