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588 F.3d 1317

Docket No. 09-10024.

LeFrere v. Quezada

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 2009-12-04

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently June 2022

2 federal appellate ·

3 counsel of record

Relies on Lancaster v. Monroe County · LeFrere v. Quezada

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by Edward Earl Carnes · Decided 2009-12-04

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¶1Tracy P. Turner, Johnstone Adams, Mobile, AL, for Quezada.

¶2Thomas E. James, Morris, Haynes & Mornsby, Birmingham, AL, for LeFrere.

¶3Kristi Allen McDonald, McDonald & McDonald, Birmingham, AL, for Amicus Curiae Ass’n of Cty. Com’ns of AL.

¶4Before CARNES and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and DOWD,* District Judge.

¶6CARNES, Circuit Judge:

¶7We recently issued an opinion certifying to the Alabama Supreme Court this question of state law: “Are jailers, like sheriffs and their deputies, absolutely immune from state claims for money damages based on actions taken within the scope of their employment?” LeFrere v. Quezada, 582 F.3d 1260, 1269 (11th Cir.2009). We *1318did so because we needed to know whether the A'ne-guess we made twelve years ago in Lancaster v. Monroe County, 116 F.3d 1419, 1431 (11th Cir.1997), that jailers were entitled to that immunity was an accurate statement of Alabama law. LeFrere, 582 F.3d at 1268. Only seven days after we issued our opinion certifying that question, the answer came from the Alabama Supreme Court in another case. See Ex parte Shelley, — So.3d-, Nos. 1080588, 1080863, 2009 WL 2997498 (Ala. Sept. 18, 2009).

¶8Because of the Shelley decision, we now know that our Lancaster decision is not an accurate statement of Alabama law. We now know that jailers are not entitled to absolute state immunity under Art. I, § 14 of the Alabama Constitution. Because that is all we need to know to decide this appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court quite understandably and politely declined to answer our certified question in light of its Shelley decision. Quezada v. LeFrere, No. 1081741 (Ala. Dec. 1, 2009). The Shelley decision is the answer to our question.

¶9Because the Shelley decision effectively overrules our Lancaster decision on the issue of absolute immunity for Alabama jailers facing state law claims, Officer Quezada’s motion to dismiss on that ground was properly denied.

¶10AFFIRMED.

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