Avoiding permanent limbo: Qualified immunity and the elaboration of constitutional rights from saucier to camreta (and beyond)

Fordham Law Review

Volumn 80, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 643-679

  Kirkpatrick, Michael T ^a   Matz, Joshua ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 81855228913     PISSN: 0015704X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (100)

1. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2024 (2011) (internal citation omitted).
2. 533 U.S. 194 (2001).
3. 500 U.S. 226 (1991).
4. 555 U.S. 223 (2009).
5. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2032.
6. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)
7. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640 (1987).
8. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526 (1985).
9. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 807, 815-16
10. Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 504-08 (1978).
11. Nancy Leong, The Saucier Qualified Immunity Experiment: An Empirical Analysis, 36 PEPP. L. REV. 667, 671-72 (2009).
12. 500 U.S. 226, 231 (1991).
13. 523 U.S. 833 (1998).
14. Siegert, 500 U.S. at 232.
15. Stephen J. Shapiro, Public Officials' Qualified Immunity in Section 1983 Actions Under Harlow v. Fitzgerald and its Progeny, 22 U. MICH. J.L. REFORM 249, 265 n.109 (1989).
16. 533 U.S. 194, 200 (2001).
17. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 234-35 (2009) (collecting cases).
18. Purtell v. Mason, 527 F.3d 615, 622 (7th Cir. 2008) ("This 'rigid order of battle' has been criticized on practical, procedural, and substantive grounds.")
19. Lyons v. City of Xenia, 417 F.3d 565, 580-85 (6th Cir. 2005) (Sutton, J., concurring) ("I cannot resist adding still another separate writing in this case that questions the rigidity of this requirement. While I the virtue in telling lower courts that they should generally answer the constitutional question before the clearly established question, I wonder whether it makes sense to mandate that they do so in all cases, no matter the costs, no matter the ease with which the second question might be answered.")
20. Pierre N. Leval, Judging Under the Constitution: Dicta About Dicta, 81 N.Y.U. L. REV. 1249 (2006).
21. Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393, 430 (2007) (Breyer, J., concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part) ("The relative ease with which we could decide this case on the qualified immunity ground, and thereby avoid deciding a far more difficult constitutional question, underscores the need to lift the rigid 'order of battle' decision-making requirement that this Court imposed upon lower courts in Saucier v. Katz.")
22. Los Angeles Cnty. v. Rettele, 550 U.S. 609, 616-17 (2007) (Stevens, J., concurring in the judgment) ("I would . . . disavow the unwise practice of deciding constitutional questions in advance of the necessity for doing so.")
23. Brosseau v. Haugen, 543 U.S. 194, 201-02 (2004) (Breyer, J., concurring)
24. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 387-88 (2007) (Breyer, J., concurring) (describing the "highly fact-dependent nature of this constitutional determination," arguing that this "fact dependency supports the argument that we should overrule the [Saucier's order of battle] requirement," and noting that "commentators, judges, and, in this case, 28 States in an amicus brief have invited us to reconsider Saucier's requirement")
25. Bunting v. Mellen, 541 U.S. 1019, 1019 (2004) (Stevens, J., denying certiorari) (criticizing this "unwise judge-made rule under which courts must decide whether the plaintiff has alleged a constitutional violation before addressing the question whether the defendant state actor is entitled to qualified immunity").
26. 555 U.S. at 224.
27. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 388 (2007) (Breyer, J., concurring) (omission in original)
28. Spector Motor Serv., Inc. v. McLaughlin, 323 U.S. 101, 105 (1944).
29. Lisa A. Kloppenberg, Avoiding Constitutional Questions, 35 B.C. L. REV. 1003, 1028-35 (1994).
30. Michael L. Wells, The "Order-of-Battle" in Constitutional Litigation, 60 SMU L. REV. 1539, 1543, 1547-58 (2007).
31. Thomas Healy, The Rise of Unnecessary Constitutional Rulings, 83 N.C. L. REV. 847, 853, 910-15 (2005) ("The rise of unnecessary constitutional rulings is in significant tension with the long-established premises of federal court jurisdiction.").
32. Advisory Opinions and the Influence of the Supreme Court over American Policymaking, 124 HARV. L. REV. 2064, 2064-69 (2011)
33. Felix Frankfurter, A Note on Advisory Opinions, 37 HARV. L. REV. 1002, 1004-05 (1924)
34. Jack M. Beermann, Qualified Immunity and Constitutional Avoidance, 2009 SUP. CT. REV. 139, 154.
35. Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 204 (1962).
36. John C. Jeffries, Jr., Reversing the Order of Battle in Constitutional Torts, 2009 SUP. CT. REV. 115, 130 (emphasis in original).
37. George A. Bermann, Integrating Governmental and Officer Tort Liability, 77 COLUM. L. REV. 1175, 1188-89 (1977)
38. David F. Hamilton, The Importance and Overuse of Policy and Custom Claims: A View from One Trench, 48 DEPAUL L. REV. 723, 730-31 (1999) (discussing indemnification of city employees in civil rights cases)
39. John C. Jeffries, Jr., In Praise of the Eleventh Amendment and Section 1983, 84 VA. L. REV. 47, 49-50 (1998) ("Very generally, a suit against a state officer is functionally a suit against the state, for the state defends the action and pays any adverse judgment.").
40. 541 U.S. 1019, 1023 (2004) (Scalia, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari).
41. Pamela S. Karlan, The Paradoxical Structure of Constitutional Litigation, 75 FORDHAM L. REV. 1913, 1924 (2007) ("Yet if the plaintiff does not appeal-thereby enabling the defendant to argue the alternative ground of no constitutional violation in support of affirmance-the defendant may have achieved a pyrrhic victory. . . . [I]f the defendant wins at the court of appeals . . . his victory may be even more pyrrhic.").
42. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2028 (2011).
43. Greene v. Camreta, 588 F.3d 1011, 1016 (9th Cir. 2009).
44. Greene v. Camreta, 2006 WL 758547, at 4-5 (D. Or. Mar. 23, 2006).
45. Greene, 588 F.3d at 1033.
46. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2027 (2011).
47. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2042 (Kennedy, J., dissenting).
48. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2042 (Kennedy, J., dissenting).
49. City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 101, 111 (1983).
50. STEPHEN BREYER, MAKING OUR DEMOCRACY WORK: A JUDGE'S VIEW 228-29 (2010).
51. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2033 n.7 ("We note, however, that the considerations persuading us to permit review of petitions in this posture may not have the same force as applied to a district court decision.").
52. Tracey E. George, The Dynamics and Determinants of the Decision to Grant En Banc Review, 74 WASH. L. REV. 213, 216-17 (1999).
53. RICHARD POSNER, HOW JUDGES THINK 32-34 (2008).
54. Michael Abramowicz, En Banc Revisited, 100 COLUM. L. REV. 1600, 1617 (2000)
55. Emerson H. Tiller & Frank B. Cross, A Modest Proposal for Improving American Justice, 99 COLUM. L. REV. 215, 226-34 (1999).
56. Ricci v. Destefano, 530 F.3d 88, 92-93 (2d Cir. 2008)
57. Jon O. Newman, Foreword, In Banc Practice in the Second Circuit: The Virtue of Restraint, 50 BROOK. L. REV. 365 (1984)
58. Jon O. Newman, In Banc Practice in the Second Circuit, 1989-1993, 60 BROOK. L. REV. 491 (1994).
59. Arthur D. Hellman, Getting it Right: Panel Error and the En Banc Process in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 34 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 425 (2000)
60. Arthur D. Hellman, Jumboism and Jurisprudence: The Theory and Practice of Precedent in the Large Appellate Court, 56 U. CHI. L. REV. 541, 548-50 (1989)
61. Thomas E. Baker, On Redrawing Circuit Boundaries-Why the Proposal to Divide the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Is Not Such a Good Idea, 22 ARIZ. ST. L.J. 917, 928-45 (1990).
62. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2030 (2011).
63. Michael C. Dorf, Dicta and Article III, 142 U. PA. L. REV. 1997 (1994).
64. Michael Abramowicz & Maxwell Stearns, Defining Dicta, 57 STAN. L. REV. 953, 961 (2005).
65. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2030.
66. Cf. Stewart J. Schwab & Theodore Eisenberg, Explaining Constitutional Tort Litigation: The Influence of the Attorney Fees Statute and the Government as Defendant, 73 CORNELL L. REV. 719, 768 (1988)
67. 506 U.S. 103 (1992).
68. Nancy Leong, Commentary: Allowing Appeals by Winners, SCOTUSBLOG (June 2, 2011, 8:41AM), http://www.scotusblog.com/?p=121018 (quoting Farrar, 506 U.S. at 111-12).
69. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 237-40 (2009).
70. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2031-32 (2011).
71. Steven D. Schwinn, Civil Rights Appeals: The Court's Opinion in Camreta v. Greene, CONST. L. PROF BLOG (May 27, 2011), http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/ conlaw/2011/05/civil-rights-appeals-the-courts-opinion-in-camreta-v-greene.html
72. Pamela S. Karlan, Disarming the Private Attorney General, 2003 U. ILL. L. REV. 183, 186.
73. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2043 (Kennedy, J., dissenting).
74. Connick v. Thompson, 131 S. Ct. 1350, 1356 (2011).
75. Richard H. Fallon, Jr. & Daniel J. Meltzer, New Law, Non-Retroactivity, and Constitutional Remedies, 104 HARV. L. REV. 1731, 1800 (1991).
76. Richard H. Fallon, Jr., Some Confusions About Due Process, Judicial Review, and Constitutional Remedies, 93 COLUM. L. REV. 309, 338 (1993).
77. John C. Jeffries, Jr., The Right-Remedy Gap in Constitutional Law, 109 YALE L.J. 87, 90 (1999).
78. John M.M. Greabe, Mirabile Dictum!: The Case for "Unnecessary" Constitutional Rulings in Civil Rights Damages Actions, 74 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 403, 405 (1999).
79. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 245 (2009).
80. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201 (2001).
81. Monell v. Dep't. of Soc. Servs. of N.Y., 436 U.S. 694 (1978).
82. City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 394-95 (1989)
83. City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 123 (1988).
84. Connick v. Thompson, 131 S. Ct. 1350 (2011)
85. The Supreme Court, 2010 Term-Leading Cases, Scope of Municipal Liability, 125 HARV. L. REV. 331 (2011).
86. 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010).
87. 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010).
88. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2044 (2011) (Kennedy, J., dissenting).
89. Akhil Reed Amar, Fourth Amendment First Principles, 107 HARV. L. REV. 757, 799 (1994).
90. Daryl J. Levinson, Rights Essentialism and Remedial Equilibration, 99 COLUM. L. REV. 857, 889 (1999).
91. Jennifer E. Laurin, Rights Translation and Remedial Disequilibration in Constitutional Criminal Procedure, 110 COLUM. L. REV. 1002, 1006 (2010).
92. Nancy Leong, Making Rights, 91 B.U. L. REV. (forthcoming 2011), available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract-id=1719774 (emphasis added).
93. 555 U.S. at 234-36.
94. Camreta v. Greene, 131 S. Ct. 2020, 2031 (2011).
95. Cnty. of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 841 n.5 (1998).
96. Lyng v. Nw. Indian Cemetery Protective Ass'n, 485 U.S. 439, 445 (1988).
97. Pearson, 555 U.S. 223, 236-42 (2009))).
98. Pearson, 555 U.S. at 237.
99. Camreta, 131 S. Ct. at 2032.
100. John C. Jeffries, Jr., Disaggregating Constitutional Torts, 110 YALE L.J. 259, 264 (2000).