Opinion ID: 1313347
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 21

Heading: clearly established

Text: Because Shearer's allegations state a legally cognizable claim for the violation of her constitutional right to due process, the next question is whether that right was clearly established at the time DSS acted. We note that this court has not previously addressed the application of due process to Nebraska's Registry statutes. By its plain language, this statutory scheme contemplates only a postdeprivation hearing. A right cannot be said to have been clearly established when the conduct at issue was authorized by statute and no court had interpreted the statute at the time that the conduct at issue occurred. Duncan v. Gunter, 15 F.3d 989 (10th Cir.1994). Accordingly, the right to a predeprivation hearing was not clearly established at the time that the unconstitutional conduct occurred. Therefore, the majority properly concluded that qualified immunity applies, and I concur. MILLER-LERMAN, J., joins in this concurrence.