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

Federal officers, including ICE agents, also generally have qualified immunity in civil cases. —Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Jan. 2026

Senator Ed Markey has recently called for ending qualified immunity for ICE agents, while Moulton and Congressman Bill Keating (MA-09) have signed on as co-sponsors to Articles of Impeachment for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. —Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 16 Jan. 2026

We are told that if qualified immunity is limited or ended, police officers will be unable to do their jobs. —Dave Myers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026

That was rejected by a federal judge, as was the city’s argument that McNamara was entitled to qualified immunity — a legal doctrine that protects government officials from litigation over their work actions absent a clear constitutional violation. —Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1859, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for qualified immunity

• autoimmunity
• importunity
• opportunity
• community
• disunity
• impunity
• munity
• unity

Legal Definition

qualified immunity

see immunity