Cite as: 520 U. S. 911 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
sonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818 (1982).
This "qualified immunity" defense is valuable to officials asserting it for two reasons. First, if it is found applicable at any stage of the proceedings, it determines the outcome of the litigation by shielding the official from damages liability. Second, when the complaint fails to allege a violation of clearly established law or when discovery fails to uncover evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue whether the defendant committed such a violation, it provides the defendant with an immunity from the burdens of trial as well as a defense to liability.2 Indeed, one reason for adopting the objective test announced in Harlow was to "permit the resolution of many insubstantial claims on summary judgment." Ibid.
Consistent with that purpose, we held in Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U. S. 511, 524-530 (1985), that a Federal District Court order rejecting a qualified immunity defense on the ground that the defendant's actions—if proved—would have violated clearly established law may be appealed immediately as a "final decision" within the meaning of the general federal appellate jurisdiction statute, 28 U. S. C. § 1291.3 If
this action had been brought in a federal court, therefore, petitioners would have had a right to take an appeal from the trial court's order denying their motion for summary judgment.
Relying on the facts (a) that respondent has asserted a federal claim under a federal statute, and (b) that they are
2 Of course, when a case can be dismissed on the pleadings or in an early pretrial stage, qualified immunity also provides officials with the valuable protection from "the burdens of broad-reaching discovery," Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818 (1982).
3 While Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U. S. 511 (1985), involved a Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971), action against a federal official, we have also construed § 1291 to authorize similar appeals in actions brought against state officials under § 1983. See, e. g., Johnson v. Jones, 515 U. S. 304 (1995).
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