Opinion ID: 772697
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Standard for Entitlement to Qualified Immunity

Text: 16 The doctrine of qualified immunity serves to shield a government official from civil liability for damages based upon the performance of discretionary functions if the official's acts were objectively reasonable in light of then clearly established law. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738 (1982). 17 As we said in Pierce v. Smith, 117 F.3d 866, 871-72 (5th Cir. 1997): 18 Where, as here, a section 1983 defendant pleads qualified immunity and shows he is a governmental official whose position involves the exercise of discretion, the plaintiff then has the burden 'to rebut this defense by establishing that the official's allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established law.' Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 306 (5th Cir. 1992). We do 'not require that an official demonstrate that he did not violate clearly established federal rights; our precedent places that burden upon plaintiffs.' Id.The first step in the qualified immunity analysis is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the violation of a clearly established federal constitutional (or federal statutory) right. Hare v. City of Corinth, 135 F.3d 320, 325 (5th Cir. 1998) (Hare III); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. If the plaintiff does so, the Court must then assess whether the defendant's conduct was objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. Hare III, 135 F.3d at 326; Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. Unlike the first step, the step two inquiry applies the law that was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. To ensure that qualified immunity serves its intended purpose, it is of paramount import, during step two, to define clearly established law at the proper level of generality. Anderson v. Creighton, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3039 (1987); Petta v. Rivera, 143 F.3d 895, 899 (5th Cir. 1998); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. 19 Clearly established means that the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3039. The defendant's acts are held to be objectively reasonable unless all reasonable officials in the defendant's circumstances would have then known that the defendant's conduct violated the United States Constitution or the federal statute as alleged by the plaintiff. Id. at 3040; Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096 (1986); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 871. The defendant's circumstances includes facts know to the defendant. However, because qualified immunity turns only upon the objective reasonableness of the defendant's acts, a particular defendant's subjective state of mind has no bearing on whether that defendant is entitled to qualified immunity. Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3040; Pierce, 117 F.3d at 871 n.5. An official is eligible for qualified immunity even if the official violated another's constitutional rights. Goodson v. City of Corpus Christi, 202 F.3d 730, 736 (5th Cir. 2000); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. 20