Cleavinger et al. v. Saxner et al.

Decided December 10, 1985. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-732 · 474 U.S. 193 (1985) · Cited 1,070 times

Holding

Petitioners are entitled to only qualified immunity.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Stump v. Sparkman · 435 U.S. 349 (1978)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Price v. Johnston · 334 U.S. 266 (1948)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• United States v. Calandra · 414 U.S. 338 (1974)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Costello v. United States · 350 U.S. 359 (1956)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Johnson v. Avery · 393 U.S. 483 (1969)
• Martinez v. California · 444 U.S. 277 (1980)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• Ponte v. Real · 471 U.S. 491 (1985)
• Ex Parte Hull · 312 U.S. 546 (1941)
• Spalding v. Vilas · 161 U.S. 483 (1896)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Buckley v. Fitzsimmons · 509 U.S. 259 (1993)
• Richardson v. McKnight · 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
• Mireles v. Waco · 502 U.S. 9 (1991)
• Board of Pardons v. Allen · 482 U.S. 369 (1987)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).