Opinion ID: 751883
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Contours of the Right as Clearly Established

Text: 19 Normally, a determination that the plaintiff has failed to allege a violation of a constitutional right ends the qualified immunity inquiry. See, e.g., Thomas v. Hungerford, 23 F.3d 1450, 1452-54 (8th Cir.1994) (defendants entitled to qualified immunity because no constitutional violation alleged). Even if this were not so, Weiler could not prevail under the second prong of qualified immunity. 20 The Supreme Court has directed courts to examine pre-existing law to see if it would be apparent to reasonable officials that their actions were unconstitutional. See Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. at 3039; Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817-18, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). Here, given the Supreme Court's holdings in Turner, 482 U.S. at 89, 107 S.Ct. at 2261-62, Bell, 441 U.S. at 555, 99 S.Ct. at 1882-83, and Wolff, 418 U.S. at 576-77, 94 S.Ct. at 2984-85, no reasonable official could have believed that refusing to deliver Weiler's package to him violated clearly established constitutional principles governing prisoner mail. Thus, even if Weiler had alleged a transgression of constitutional magnitude, the defendants would still be entitled to qualified immunity.