Kerns v. Bader

GORSUCH, Circuit Judge.

Do we have to decide a qualified immunity appeal involving close questions of law that the district court hasn’t yet addressed? Do the police violate a suspect’s clearly established rights by requesting his hospital records? And do authorities have probable cause to arrest a trained marksman who makes suspicious statements in the wake of a shooting, who leads officers on a high speed chase, and who has a recently concealed rifle shell casing lying at the bottom of his trash can? We answer no to the first two questions and yes to the last.

I

On a summer evening in 2005 a…