The following excerpt is from Whalen v. County of Fulton, 19 F.3d 828 (2nd Cir. 1994):
The district court's analysis of defendants' motion is faulty for two reasons. First, the district court failed to apply the correct standard of review. The question is not whether plaintiffs "might" be able to successfully assert a right; rather, before plaintiffs can recover from defendants who enjoy qualified immunity, they must be able to point to a right that is already "clearly established," of which reasonable persons would be aware, that has been violated. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982).
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