qualified immunity

noun

law : immunity from civil liability that is conditioned or limited (as by a requirement of good faith or due care)
especially : immunity from lawsuits that is granted to public officials (such as police officers) for acts that violate someone's civil rights if it can be shown that the acts do not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would be aware
An officer conducting a search is entitled to qualified immunity where clearly established law does not show that the search violated the Fourth Amendment. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
Wayne Jones's family won a small victory this month when the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the officers involved in his killing could not claim qualified immunity. Hailey Fuchs
By bypassing qualified immunity, but paying out judgments assessed against the officers, Colorado's new law ensures that victims are made whole and that good cops aren't deterred from doing their jobs. Nick Sibilla

Examples of qualified immunity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But Trump’s pledge to eliminate qualified immunity for police officers makes him, as a Black man, fear for his life and for the lives of his three sons. Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2024 Also in the memorandum, the court affirmed the denial of qualified immunity for three officers — Lee Tassio, Jonathan Marshall, and Juan Avila — involving claims from Vera Clanton, a different defendant from the same lawsuit. Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2024 In recent years, state and federal governments have proposed limiting or tossing qualified immunity. Anthony Hennen | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 30 July 2024 The leading issue, the FOP Financial Secretary Jason Brinker said, came down to qualified immunity. Anthony Hennen | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 30 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for qualified immunity 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'qualified immunity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1859, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of qualified immunity was circa 1859

Dictionary Entries Near qualified immunity

Cite this Entry

“Qualified immunity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qualified%20immunity. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Legal Definition

qualified immunity

see immunity

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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