California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Rogers v. San Joaquin Cnty., C069956 (Cal. App. 2016):
"The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials 'from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.' [Citation.]" (Pearson v. Callahan (2009) 555 U.S. 223, 231 [172 L.Ed.2d 565, 573].) When considering a claim of qualified immunity, a court must determine "whether the facts that a plaintiff has alleged . . . make out a violation of a constitutional right," and "whether the right at issue was 'clearly established' at the time of defendant's alleged misconduct." (Id. at p. 232.) Qualified immunity shields a government official unless his conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right. (Ibid.)
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