404
Opinion of the Court
The Wyatt majority, in deciding whether or not the private defendants enjoyed immunity, looked both to history and to "the special policy concerns involved in suing government officials." 504 U. S., at 167; see also Mitchell, supra, at 526; Harlow, supra, at 807; Imbler v. Pachtman, supra, at 424. And in this respect—the relevant sources of the law—both the Wyatt concurrence and the dissent seemed to agree. Compare 504 U. S., at 169-171 (Kennedy, J., concurring) (existence of immunity depends upon "historical origins" and "public policy"), with id., at 175-176 (Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting) ("immunity" recognized where "similarly situated defendant would have enjoyed an immunity at common law" or "when important public policy concerns suggest the need for an immunity").
Fourth, Wyatt did not consider its answer to the question before it as one applicable to all private individuals—irrespective of the nature of their relation to the government, position, or the kind of liability at issue. Rather, Wyatt explicitly limited its holding to what it called a "narrow" question about "private persons . . . who conspire with state officials," id., at 168, and it answered that question by stating that private defendants "faced with § 1983 liability for invoking a state replevin, garnishment, or attachment statute" are not entitled to immunity, id., at 168-169.
Wyatt, then, did not answer the legal question before us, whether petitioners—two employees of a private prison management firm—enjoy a qualified immunity from suit under § 1983. It does tell us, however, to look both to history and to the purposes that underlie government employee immunity in order to find the answer. Id., at 164; see also Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc., 453 U. S. 247, 259 (1981); Owen, supra, at 638; Imbler, supra, at 424.
B
History does not reveal a "firmly rooted" tradition of immunity applicable to privately employed prison guards.
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