Qualified Immunity protects officers performing discretionary functions UNLESS ...

Qualified Immunity protects officers performing discretionary functions UNLESS ...

• A. They violated a policy
• B. They acted with malice
• C. Conduct violates a clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known
• D. They caused property damage

Answer: (C)

Qualified immunity shields officers from civil liability for discretionary actions unless their conduct violates a right that is clearly established—meaning a right defined by statutory or constitutional law in which a reasonable officer would know the conduct was illegal at the time. That’s why the best choice describes the exception as a violation of a clearly established right. If the officer’s conduct trampled a right that the law clearly recognized, a reasonable official would have known the risk of liability, and immunity does not apply. The other options don’t fit because policy violations, malice alone, or property damage do not, by themselves, define the clearly established constitutional or statutory rights that remove immunity.

Qualified immunity shields officers from civil liability for discretionary actions unless their conduct violates a right that is clearly established—meaning a right defined by statutory or constitutional law in which a reasonable officer would know the conduct was illegal at the time.

That’s why the best choice describes the exception as a violation of a clearly established right. If the officer’s conduct trampled a right that the law clearly recognized, a reasonable official would have known the risk of liability, and immunity does not apply. The other options don’t fit because policy violations, malice alone, or property damage do not, by themselves, define the clearly established constitutional or statutory rights that remove immunity.