Tucker v. Callahan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 federal appellate · 1 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “For example, the right to due process of law is quite clearly established by the Due Process Clause, and thus there is a sense in which any action that violates that Clause (no matter how unclear it may be that the particular action is a violation) violates a clearly established right. Much the same could be said of any other constitutional or statutory violation. But if the test of “clearly established law” were to be applied at this level of generality, it would bear no relationship to the “objective legal reasonableness” that is the touchstone of Harlow . Plaintiffs would be able to convert the rule of qualified immunity that our eases plainly establish into a rule of virtually unqualified liability simply by alleging violation of extremely abstract rights. Harlow would be transformed from a guarantee of immunity into a rule of pleading____ It should not be surprising, therefore, that our cases establish that the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been “clearly established” in a more particularized, and hence more relevant sense: The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, ... but it is to say that in light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 792 F. Supp. 1472 - Munir v. Scott · 894 F. Supp. 310 - Nemeckay v. Rule

2. “This circuit has noted that the question is whether “any officer in the defendant’s position, measured objectively, would have clearly understood that he was under an affirmative duty to have refrained from such conduct.” Although this is purely a legal question to be decided by the court, a court may not be able to make a determination if the exact character of the “actions” that Anderson requires the court to consider is unknown. This court ultimately decides the law to be applied. In this case, however, the jury becomes the final arbiter of [defendant-]appellant Sharp’s claim of immunity, since the legal question of immunity is completely dependent upon which view of the facts is accepted by the jury. If the jury determines that Sharp fired on Brandenburg without a belief that someone was in danger of serious bodily injury, then as a legal matter no reasonable officer could believe that such gunfire would not violate another’s constitutional rights. On the other hand, if the jury believes detective Sharp’s version of the facts, he will be entitled to qualified immunity.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Adams v. Metiva

3. “Qualified immunity involves a three-step inquiry. First, we determine whether, based upon the applicable law, the facts viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs show that a constitutional violation has occurred. Second, we consider whether the violation involved a clearly established constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known. Third, we determine whether the plaintiff has offered sufficient evidence “to indicate that what the official allegedly did was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established constitutional rights.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Sallier v. Brooks