Qualified Immunity Essentials
Learn the two-prong analysis, what makes a right clearly established, and how courts assess reasonable mistakes.
Two-Prong Analysis
- • Was there a constitutional violation?
- • Was the right clearly established?
- • Courts may address either prong first
Clearly Established Law
- • Specific facts put officers on notice
- • Supreme Court or controlling circuit cases
- • Robust consensus in some situations
Reasonable Mistakes
- • Mistakes of law or fact can be protected
- • Perspective of a reasonable officer on scene
- • Not judged by hindsight