Opinion ID: 168164
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The two prongs of qualified immunity

Text: 38 The doctrine of qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions ... from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Trotter, 219 F.3d at 1184 (quotations omitted). A proper qualified immunity analysis involves two steps: A court evaluating a claim of qualified immunity `must first determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the deprivation of an actual constitutional right at all, and, if so, proceed to determine whether that right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.' Id. (quoting Conn v. Gabbert, 526 U.S. 286, 290, 119 S.Ct. 1292, 143 L.Ed.2d 399 (1999)). 39