University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas v. Margulis

The issue in this ease is whether the court of appeals has jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal of the denial of a motion for summary judgment that asserted qualified immunity as a defense to a claim based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court of appeals held that it did not have jurisdiction because the motion for summary judgment was not supported by any evidence that the state employees were entitled to qualified immunity. The motion for summary judgment argued that as a matter of law the plaintiff failed to plead specific facts that would indicate a violation of clearly established law. We…