Opinion ID: 195973
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 11 As a preliminary matter, Lowinger disputes whether this Court has proper jurisdiction over the appeal since the district court's denial of summary judgment was not a final order from which an appeal may follow. 12 It is well-settled that a court of appeals has jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal from a district court's denial of qualified immunity. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). The Supreme Court in Mitchell explained that immunity, whether absolute or qualified, has the essential attribute of entitling its possessor to avoid standing trial. Thus, the doctrine provides immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liability; and ... it is effectively lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial. Id. at 526, 105 S.Ct. at 2815. See also Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). 13 This Court, time and again, has heeded the Supreme Court's instructions in this area and exercised jurisdiction over such appeals, including appeals from district courts that had concluded that there were genuine issues of material fact, and, on several occasions, this Court has reversed the denial of summary judgment. See, e.g., Febus-Rodriguez v. Betancourt-Lebron, 14 F.3d 87, 90 (1st Cir.1994); Rogers v. Fair, 902 F.2d 140, 142 (1st Cir.1990); Fonte v. Collins, 898 F.2d 284, 285 (1st Cir.1990); Newman v. Massachusetts, 884 F.2d 19, 22 (1st Cir.1989); Mariani-Giron v. Acevedo-Ruiz, 877 F.2d 1114, 1120 (1st Cir.1988); Unwin v. Campbell, 863 F.2d 124, 132 (1st Cir.1989). If the district court was in error in denying summary judgment, permitting the immediate appeal of such denials avoids subjecting officials unnecessarily to discovery and trial. Accordingly, our review of the district court's actions here is proper and, since those actions address questions of law, the district court's conclusions are subject to plenary review. Febus-Rodriguez, 14 F.3d at 90.