Court Opinion

ID: 9480126
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:39:08.967329+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:30.191595
License: Public Domain

TJOFLAT, Chief Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result reached by the court today and agree with much of the court’s opinion. I write separately because I question the court’s characterization of our circuit’s precedent regarding our jurisdiction to review a district court’s denial of a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court states: “[T]his court has consistently held that denial of a motion for summary judgment based on a claim of qualified immunity is not a final appealable order if the claim is denied because the case turns on factual questions in dispute.” See ante at 5. Because the problem continues to surface in this circuit,1 I find it appropriate to say a few words on this issue.
Generally, unless an issue is certified for interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) (1982), a court of appeals has jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, to review only final decisions of the district courts. See Flinn v. Gordon, 775 F.2d 1551, 1552 (11th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1116, 106 S.Ct. 1972, 90 L.Ed.2d 656 (1986). We may, however, review decisions that, although not final in the sense that they terminate the cause of action, “finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, too important to be denied review and too independent of the cause itself to require that appellate consideration be deferred until the whole case is adjudicated.” Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225-26, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). The qualified immunity defense protects such a claim of right, i.e., that of an official, who has acted rea*1535sonably and in good faith within the scope of his or her discretionary authority, to avoid any litigation of the plaintiffs allegations. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 527-28, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2816, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). The claimed entitlement is an “immunity from suit ...; and like an absolute immunity, it is effectively lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial.” Id. at 526, 105 S.Ct. at 2815 (emphasis in original). Consequently, “a district court’s denial of a claim of qualified immunity, to the extent that it turns on an issue of law,2 is an appealable ‘final decision’ within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291....” Id. at 530, 105 S.Ct. at 2817.
When the district court grants a pre-trial motion based on a qualified immunity defense, our jurisdiction is unquestioned; the decision is clearly a “final decision” within the meaning of section 1291 in that it terminates the action altogether.3 On review, *1536we may, without fear of compromising our jurisdiction, examine the plaintiff’s claim directly. If we affirm the district court, we may base our affirmance on the ground that the plaintiff failed to present any claim at all, rather than on the defendant’s entitlement to qualified immunity because his conduct did not violate law clearly established at the time.
Our jurisdiction becomes problematic only when the district court denies a pretrial motion based on a qualified immunity defense. A district court’s denial of a pretrial motion, such as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim or a motion for judgment on the pleadings or for summary judgment, is generally not a reviewable final order under section 1291. It is the qualified immunity defense that gives us jurisdiction to review a denial of such a motion in order to protect effectively the defendant’s “claim of right” to avoid litigation — a claim that must, under Cohen’s collateral order doctrine, be “separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action.” Cohen, 337 U.S. at 546, 69 S.Ct. at 1225-26. In deciding the qualified immunity issue, however, the district court considers whether the defendant’s conduct as presented — whether gleaned from the complaint or the record as a whole — did or did not violate law that was clearly established at the time. The district court’s denial of the motion thus contains the implicit determination that the plaintiff has presented a claim for which the law ordinarily provides relief; otherwise, defendant would be necessarily immune because his conduct could not have violated clearly established law. Similarly, appellate review, although limited to “issue[s] of law,” must entail consideration of the factual underpinnings of the plaintiff’s claim for relief in order to assess the defendant’s entitlement to immunity. This court might disagree with the district court that these factual underpinnings make out a claim for relief — an issue that we normally lack jurisdiction to decide on an interlocutory appeal — but our jurisdiction, based as it is on the immunity defense, is nonetheless un-compromised: if the plaintiff has no claim upon which relief can be granted, the defendant necessarily has qualified immunity, for under no version of the facts presented did his conduct violate clearly established law. Our rationale may embrace the plaintiff’s underlying claim, but we consider that claim only insofar as its factual support establishes defendant’s immunity from suit.
Contrary to the court’s suggestion today, this circuit has recognized that the existence of factual disputes in such a case does not affect our jurisdiction and has frequently followed the analysis outlined by the Supreme Court in Mitchell. See, e.g., McDaniel v. Woodard, 886 F.2d 311, 313—14 (11th Cir.1989); Rich v. Dollar, 841 F.2d 1558, 1560-61 (11th Cir.1988). See generally Green v. Brantley, 895 F.2d 1387, 1395 (11th Cir.1990) (Kravitch, J., specially concurring). According to Mitchell, “[a]ll [an appellate court reviewing the denial of the defendant’s claim of immunity] need determine is a question of law: whether the legal norms allegedly violated by the defendant were clearly established at the time of the challenged actions_” Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 528, 105 S.Ct. at 2816; see id. at 528 n. 9, 105 S.Ct. at 2816 n. 9 (“the appealable issue is a purely legal one: whether the facts [presented] ... support a claim of violation of clearly established law” (emphasis added)).
In support of its characterization of this circuit’s precedent, the court cites Riley v. Wainwright, 810 F.2d 1006, 1007 (11th Cir.1986). In Riley, a panel of this court stated that it could not review the district court’s denial of the defendants’ summary judgment motion based on a claim of qualified immunity because that denial “did not turn on an issue of law.” Id. The panel reported that the district court had denied the motion because “factual development” was required before the district court could “determine[] with finality whether Riley had been subjected to a constitutional deprivation and, if so, whether some or all of the defendants were entitled to the benefit of qualified immunity.” Id. The Riley panel then held that the district court's *1537decision was not an appealable final order. Id.
This reference to “factual development” has led to disagreement in our circuit before. See, e.g., Goddard v. Urrea, 847 F.2d 765, 769 (11th Cir.1988); id. at 770 (Johnson, J., dissenting) {Riley distinguishable because “factual development” in Goddard adequate; appellate court should have assumed plaintiffs version of facts and decided immunity issue); see also supra note 1. Although Riley’s language may be confusing, I believe that its holding, correctly understood, is sound. I also suggest that the situation in Riley was that envisioned by the Supreme Court when it qualified its holding in Mitchell by stating that the denial of a qualified immunity defense is appeal-able “to the extent that it turns on an issue of law.” See supra note 2.
As I read Riley, the plaintiffs pleadings were not sufficiently developed to permit the district court to identify, and then to assume as true, a particular set of facts. In denying summary judgment until the complaint’s factual allegations had been further developed, the district court’s decision implied that the court would have granted a Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e) motion for more definite statement, had the defendant-official initially moved for one. Similarly, had the defendant asserted his qualified immunity defense by moving under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for dismissal for failure to state a claim, see supra note 2, the district court would no doubt have permitted the plaintiff to amend his complaint in order to spell out his factual contentions and only then would have reached the question of qualified immunity. Because the defendant made neither motion, but moved instead for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity, the district court simply deferred final decision on the immunity question until the plaintiff’s pleadings were sufficiently “developed” for the court to identify the factual contentions and to assess the merits of the qualified immunity defense in light of the facts presented. Since the district court’s denial of the “motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity” was, in effect, a deferral of any ruling on the qualified immunity issue, it was not an appeal-able final order within the meaning of Mitchell, and this court lacked jurisdiction to review it.
In sum, pre-trial qualified immunity analysis directs the court to assume “the validity of the plaintiff’s version of the facts and then examine[] whether those facts ‘support a claim of violation of clearly established law.’ ” Goddard, 847 F.2d at 769 (Johnson, J., dissenting). The existence of factual disputes in the case is irrelevant. Where the plaintiff presents a set of facts that enable the district court to identify the plaintiff’s allegations, the district court’s decision that the facts presented, whether disputed or undisputed, support a claim that defendant’s conduct violated clearly established law is a decision on a question of law. This court therefore has jurisdiction to review that decision.
For the foregoing reasons, I cannot agree with the court’s statement limiting our jurisdiction to review a district court’s denial of a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.

. A panel of the Eleventh Circuit, finding jurisdiction to review the rejection of a qualified immunity defense although facts were in dispute, recently stated that "factual disputes do not affect qualified immunity analysis since ‘that analysis assumes the validity of plaintiffs version of the facts and then examines whether those facts support a claim of clearly established law.” ’’ Horlock v. Georgia Dep’t of Human Resources, 890 F.2d 388, 392-93 (11th Cir.1989) (emphasis in original) (quoting Goddard v. Urrea, 847 F.2d 765, 769 (11th Cir.1988) (Johnson, J., dissenting)). Because Horlock conflicted with earlier panel decisions, see, e.g., Goddard, 847 F.2d at 768-69, the case has been voted en banc to resolve the divergence of authority, and the panel opinion has been vacated, see Horlock v. Georgia Dep’t of Human Resources. The case, however, has since been settled, and a motion to dismiss the appeal has been granted, see order of March 28, 1990; therefore, the case will not be reheard en banc, but the panel opinion will remain vacated. See Dunn v. Blue Ridge Tele. Co., 888 F.2d 731 (11th Cir.1989) (en banc).

. The Mitchell court's phrase, "to the extent that it turns on an issue of law,” requires some explanation. In Mitchell, “[t]he question of [defendant Mitchell’s immunity] turn[ed] on whether it was clearly established [on the date of authorizing certain warrantless wiretaps] that such wiretaps were unconstitutional," 472 U.S. at 530, 105 S.Ct. at 2818, which, as the Court stated, is a "purely legal question,” id., 105 S.Ct. at 2817. The Mitchell holding reserved a margin for error, however, by stating that a denial of a defendant’s qualified immunity claim is an appealable final order "to the extent that it turns on an issue of law.” In so qualifying its holding, the Court no doubt envisioned a situation where the district court, unable to answer the purely legal question because it cannot on the basis of the facts presented identify plaintiff’s allegations, defers its ruling on the merits of the qualified immunity claim until it is able to identify and resolve the legal question. (This situation arose in Riley v. Wainwright, 810 F.2d 1006 (11th Cir.1986), discussed at length in the text.) For I submit that a district court’s rejection of a pre-trial qualified immunity defense always turns on an issue of law.
A defendant may assert his qualified immunity defense, prior to trial, in one of three ways, all of which require the court to consider an issue of law. First, a defendant may move for dismissal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. See Quiller v. Barclays American/Credit, Inc., 727 F.2d 1067, 1069 (11th Cir.1984) ("[A] complaint may be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) when its own allegations reveal the existence of an affirmative defense, so long as the defense clearly appears on the face of the complaint”), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1124, 106 S.Ct. 1992, 1993, 90 L.Ed.2d 673 (1986); Green v. Maraio, 722 F.2d 1013, 1019 (2d Cir.1983) (affirmative defense of qualified immunity may be asserted in Rule 12(b)(6) motion when “complaint itself establishes ... qualified immunity”); see also 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1357 at 609 (1969 & Supp.1989). The district court then examines the complaint to see whether the allegations themselves reveal the existence of the qualified immunity defense, i.e., whether, under the most favorable version of the facts alleged, defendant's actions violate clearly established law — a "purely legal question.” Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 530, 105 S.Ct. at 2817.
Second, the defendant may raise his affirmative defense in his answer and move under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) for judgment on the pleadings. The district court does not attempt to determine whether there are factual disputes, let alone resolve them, but examines only the pleadings; it grants the motion if the plaintiff alleges only actions that "a reasonable officer could have believed lawful,” see Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 646 n. 6, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3042 n. 6, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987), and denies the motion if the plaintiff alleges actions that violate clearly established law or if the defendant alleges only actions that a reasonable officer could not have believed lawful, see Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 528, 105 S.Ct. at 2816. The defendant may invoke the same analysis by moving for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b), which, if no additional material is presented for the court’s consideration, will be treated by the court as a motion for judgment on the pleadings. See 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, supra § 1372.
Third, the defendant may present matter outside the pleadings and move for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). The district court then examines the submitted evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff in order to determine whether the defendant is nonetheless entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511-12, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The court considers in the light most favorable to the plaintiff all facts fairly inferrable from the record — regardless of the existence of factual disputes — and decides whether, under those facts, defendant’s conduct violated law clearly established at the time. If the district court rejects the qualified immunity defense, that decision rests on the court’s determination that the inferrable facts, if true, constitute violations of clearly established law by the defendant. That determination, whether in the context of a Rule 56(b) or (e) motion for summary judgment, a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, or a motion for judgment on the pleadings, is a legal determination and, under the Cohen collateral order doctrine, results in an appealable judgment.

. Two cases cited by the court today, Williams v. Cash, 836 F.2d 1318 (11th Cir.1988), and Perry *1536v. Thompson, 786 F.2d 1093 (11th Cir.1986), involve appellate review of district court decisions granting summary judgment based on defendants’ claims of qualified immunity.