Court Opinion

ID: 9808541
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 20:41:10.790419+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:14:48.343987
License: Public Domain

RILEY, Chief Judge,
concurring.
I fully join the majority opinion but write separately to reiterate the court’s direction in Robbins v. Becker, 715 F.3d 691 (8th Cir.2013), and other cases, that district courts must carefully conduct “a thorough qualified immunity analysis” before denying or granting summary judgment on this issue, including “findings of fact and conclusions of law, similar by *815analogy to [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 52(a)(2),” sufficient for our court effectively to “fulfill our function of review.” Id. at 694 & n. 2 (quotations omitted). To be thorough, the determination may not be “ ‘abbreviated’ ” or “ ‘terse’ ” and must lay out the fact findings and law “ ‘step-by-step.’ ” Jones v. McNeese, 675 F.3d 1158, 1163 (8th Cir.2012) (quoting O’Neil v. City of Iowa City, Iowa, 496 F.3d 915, 918 (8th Cir.2007)).