The following excerpt is from Xiong v. City of Merced, Case No. 1:13-cv-00083-SKO, C/w No. 1:13-cv-00111-SKO (E.D. Cal. 2015):
"For a constitutional right to be clearly established, its contours must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable officer would understand that what he is doing violates that right." Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739, (2002). While the reasonableness inquiry may not be undertaken as a broad, general proposition, neither is official action entitled to protection "unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful." Hope, 536 U. S. at 739.
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