John W. Behrens v. Robert J. Pelletier

Decided February 21, 1996. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-1244 · 516 U.S. 299 (1996) · Cited 2,084 times

Holding

A defendant's immediate appeal of an unfavorable qualified-immunity ruling on a motion to dismiss does not deprive the court of appeals of jurisdiction over a second appeal, also based on qualified immunity, immediately following denial of summary judgment.

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 7–2.

“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.

• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Johnson v. Jones · 515 U.S. 304 (1995)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay · 437 U.S. 463 (1978)
• Abney v. United States · 431 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. · 506 U.S. 139 (1993)
• Digital Equipment Corp. v. Desktop Direct, Inc. · 511 U.S. 863 (1994)
• Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard · 486 U.S. 517 (1988)
• Swint v. Chambers County Commission · 514 U.S. 35 (1995)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord · 449 U.S. 368 (1981)
• Cobbledick v. United States · 309 U.S. 323 (1940)
• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp. · 485 U.S. 271 (1988)
• Maness v. Meyers · 419 U.S. 449 (1975)
• Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller Ex Rel. Koller · 472 U.S. 424 (1985)
• LAURO LINES s.r.l. v. Chasser · 490 U.S. 495 (1989)
• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Davis v. Scherer · 468 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Pennsylvania v. Ritchie · 480 U.S. 39 (1987)
• Church of Scientology of California v. United States · 506 U.S. 9 (1992)
• Stack v. Boyle · 342 U.S. 1 (1951)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States · 489 U.S. 794 (1989)
• United States v. Ryan · 402 U.S. 530 (1971)
• Helstoski v. Meanor · 442 U.S. 500 (1979)
• Carroll v. United States · 354 U.S. 394 (1957)

Cited by

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

• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Arthur Andersen LLP v. Carlisle · 556 U.S. 624 (2009)
• Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
• Clinton v. Jones · 520 U.S. 681 (1997)
• Ortiz v. Jordan · 562 U.S. 180 (2011)
• Will v. Hallock · 546 U.S. 345 (2006)
• Richardson v. McKnight · 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
• Johnson v. Fankell · 520 U.S. 911 (1997)
• Brogan v. United States · 522 U.S. 398 (1998)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).