Qualified immunity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Qualified immunity is a doctrine in United States law providing immunity from suit to government officials performing discretionary functions when their action did not violate clearly established law. Qualified immunity was created by the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing frequently-required inquiries into subjective malice with a framework for objective inquiries into the legal reasonableness of the contested action. Qualified immunity is a potential affirmative defense to suits against government officials.

As outlined by the Supreme Court in Harlow v. Fitzgerald 457 U.S. 800 (1982),^[1] qualified immunity is designed to shield government officials from actions "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known".

[edit] See also

• Transactional immunity
• Sectional immunity

[edit] References

• ↑ 457 U.S. 800 (Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com)