Nicholas Coffey v. Adam Carroll

READLER, Circuit Judge.

The qualified immunity doctrine serves to shield public officials-oftentimes, police officers-from liability and harassment for reasonable acts undertaken in the line of duty. As the doctrine affords a public official immunity from the costs of litigation, federal courts have an obligation to weigh the issue as early as practicable, and certainly no later than summary judgment. By the same token, where the law is settled and the record is murky as to whether an official has acted reasonably when judged against that settled legal standard, the claims are often left for…