Opinion ID: 437447
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Qualified Immunity and the Harlow Standard

Text: 98 Prior to Harlow, qualified immunity had both subjective and objective elements. The objective element involved a presumptive knowledge of and respect for basic, unquestioned constitutional rights. Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 322, 95 S.Ct. 992, 1001, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975). The subjective element addressed the permissible intentions, id., or good faith of the Government actor. In other words, an official would not receive qualified immunity if he 99 knew or reasonably should have known that the action he took within his sphere of official responsibility would violate the constitutional rights of the [plaintiff] or if [the official] took the action with the malicious intention to cause a deprivation of constitutional rights or other injury. 100 Wood, 420 U.S. at 322, 95 S.Ct. at 1001. 101 The Supreme Court's decision to grant state 70 and federal 71 officers qualified, instead of absolute immunity reflected an attempt to balance competing values: not only the importance of a damages remedy to protect the rights of citizens ... but also 'the need to protect officials who are required to exercise their discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority.'  Harlow, 457 U.S. at 807, 102 S.Ct. at 2733 (quoting Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 506, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 2910, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978)). By striking the balance in this manner, the Court determined that the need for damage remedies required rejection of an absolute immunity for federal officers. Yet, the fears remained that Government officials might be chary in the exercise of their most important public functions if constantly subject to discovery and trial over their discretionary decisions. To shield Government officers from undue interference, the Court admonished lower courts applying the qualified immunity standard to engage in firm application of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure [to] ensure that federal officials are not harassed by frivolous lawsuits, 72 and endorsed the idea of resolving the immunity issue of damage suits at the summary judgment stage. 73 102 Experience with the qualified immunity defense proved it to be often ineffective in resolving suits on summary judgment. If any factual dispute existed as to whether the official acted with malicious intent, or with a belief that a clear standard prohibited his conduct, that dispute required a subjective determination necessitating a trial. The need for such determinations thus frustrated the goal of terminating insubstantial lawsuits on summary judgment. National Black Police Association, Inc. v. Velde, 712 F.2d 569, 574 (D.C.Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2180, 80 L.Ed.2d 562 (1984). 103 Harlow redefined the qualified immunity defense to eliminate the subjective element. Under the new standard, government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded 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. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. The Court further explained, 104 If the law was clearly established, the immunity defense ordinarily should fail, since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his conduct. Nevertheless, if the official pleading the defense claims extraordinary circumstances and can prove that he neither knew nor should have known of the relevant legal standard, the defense should be sustained. But again, the defense would turn primarily on objective factors. 105 Id. at 818-19, 102 S.Ct. at 2739. In other words, if the trial judge determines that the law was not clearly established at the time the conduct occurred, the inquiry ceases and the official is entitled to summary judgment. If the law was clearly established, the Government actor is presumed to have known about it; unless he can bring forward undisputed facts establishing that because of extraordinary circumstances he neither knew nor should have known of the unlawfulness, summary judgment in his favor must be denied.