Kisela v. Hughes

Qualified immunity protects officials from civil suit when the official’s conduct does not violate a clearly established statutory or constitutional right.

Petitioner, a police officer, shot Respondent four times when Respondent failed to drop a knife after Petitioner’s commands to do so. Respondent survived and sued Petitioner under 42 U.S.C § 1983 for excessive force, violating the Fourth Amendment. The District Court granted summary judgment for Petitioner, but the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that Petitioner violated the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and summarily reversed the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding that Petitioner was entitled to qualified immunity. The Court asserted that “qualified immunity attaches when an official’s conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” The Court reasoned that such statutory or constitutional rights must be so sufficiently definite that any reasonable official in the Petitioner’s shoes would have understood they were violating it. The Court found that Petitioner had mere seconds to assess the potential danger of the situation and determine that probable cause existed to believe that Respondent posed a threat of serious physical harm to others. Because Petitioner was entitled to qualified immunity, the Court did not need to decide whether Petitioner violated the Fourth Amendment when using deadly force against Respondent. REVERSED and REMANDED.