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Civil Rights and Public Entity Law
Villegas and City of Tahlequah, where the Supreme Court has referenced the doctrine following the grant of cert, it has been supportive, writing “officers are still protected ... by qualified immunity.” Thompson v. Clark, 142 S. Ct. 1332, 1340–41 (2022). As Justice Sotomayor noted in a June 2022 opinion in which she concurred in part and dissented in part, “The doctrine of qualified immunity will continue to protect government officials from liability for damages unless a plaintiff pleads facts showing (1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutionalright,and(2)thattherightwasclearlyestablishedatthetimeofthechallengedconduct.”Egbert v. Boule, 142 S. Ct. 1793, 1821 n.5 (2022) (Sotomayor, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (cleaned up).
The lesson for practitioners is that qualified immunity remains a doctrine to take seriously. Counsel for individual defendants named in civil rights cases should evaluate the possibility of qualified immunity motion practice in every case, whether in early stages or late. It might not always be the right fit for a case, but it’s important to consider.
Nathaniel M. Jordan is a Partner at Yoder Ainlay Ulmer & Buckingham LLP, in Goshen, IN since 2009. Contact him at: njordan@yaub.com.
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FDCC ANNUAL FIVES 2023