600
Opinion of the Court
judge should give priority to discovery concerning issues that bear upon the qualified immunity defense, such as the actions that the official actually took, since that defense should be resolved as early as possible. See Anderson, 483 U. S., at 646, n. 6.21
Beyond these procedures and others that we have not mentioned, summary judgment serves as the ultimate screen to weed out truly insubstantial lawsuits prior to trial. At that stage, if the defendant-official has made a properly supported motion,22 the plaintiff may not respond simply with general attacks upon the defendant's credibility, but rather must identify affirmative evidence from which a jury could find that the plaintiff has carried his or her burden of proving the pertinent motive. Liberty Lobby, 477 U. S., at 256-257. Finally, federal trial judges are undoubtedly familiar with two additional tools that are available in extreme cases to protect public officials from undue harassment: Rule 11, which authorizes sanctions for the filing of papers that are frivolous, lacking in factual support, or "presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass"; and 28 U. S. C. § 1915(e)(2) (1994 ed., Supp. II), which authorizes dismissal "at any time" of in forma pauperis suits that are "frivolous or malicious."
It is the district judges rather than appellate judges like ourselves who have had the most experience in managing cases in which an official's intent is an element. Given the
21 If the official seeks summary judgment on immunity grounds and the court denies the motion, the official can take an immediate interlocutory appeal, even if she has already so appealed a prior order. Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U. S. 299, 311 (1996).
22 "Of course, a party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of 'the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 323 (1986) (quoting Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 56(c)).
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