What is the effect of the rule of law on qualified immunity?

It is also the rule of lawto which both sides in a lawsuit have a rightthat requires a court to consider whether certain defenses, such as qualified immunity, shield a particular defendant in any event from a suit for damages. See, e.g., Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 23132, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (reiterating that qualified immunity should be decided at earliest possible stage of litigation because it is immunity from suit, not just liability).

Thus, the rule of law animates this dissent no less than the majority opinion.