Wilson v. Layne
Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.
Status
More on how this was screened
Hudson v. Hall made an exception to Wilson's suggested qualified-immunity sequence where deciding the constitutional question first would have required an unnecessary state-law ruling. The same Hudson opinion appeared in three source clusters and is recorded once. A later Eleventh Circuit panel's contrary treatment was vacated on rehearing en banc.
2,647 later cases cite Wilson v. Layne; 97 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.
Relying on Wilson v. Layne?
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Treatments
Limited
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The Eleventh Circuit made an exception to Wilson's suggested qualified-immunity sequence when deciding the constitutional question first would have required resolving an unnecessary state-law issue.
Hudson v. Hall · Eleventh Circuit · filed
We recognize that the Supreme Court has written that generally we should—when we adjudicate qualified immunity cases—first decide whether the defendant has violated federal law at all before considering whether the law was clearly established. See Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 609, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 1697, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999) ... But we do not think that the Supreme Court's suggested approach is—without exceptions—required absolutely, and we decline to follow that approach in this instance. In this case, whether probable cause existed—and, whether the Fourth Amendment was violated—turns upon a difficult question of state law. If we followed here the approach set out in Wilson and in Lewis, we would be required to determine whether O.C.G.A. § 40-6-123 applies to turns from private driveways onto public roadways before we reached the clearly-established question.
Read the full opinion on CourtListener →
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