Can a government official be held personally liable for an alleged unlawful official action?

Generally, government officials performing discretionary functions are provided with qualified immunity, shielding them from civil damages liability so long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they are alleged to have violated. See, e.g., Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). Whether an official may be held personally liable for an allegedly unlawful official action mainly turns on the "objective legal reasonableness" of the action assessed in light of the legal rules that were "clearly established" at the time it was taken. Id., 483 U.S. at ----, 107 S.Ct. at 3038, 97 L.Ed.2d at 530 (quoting Harlow, 457 U.S. at 819, 102 S.Ct. at 2739).