The following excerpt is from Jones v. Cnty. of L. A., No. 12-55995 (9th Cir. 2015):
Section 1983 creates a cause of action against any person who, acting under color of state law, violates the federal constitutional rights of another person. See 42 U.S.C. 1983. "The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials 'from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.'" Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231 (2009) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)). Thus, the qualified immunity analysis has two prongs: (1) whether the official violated the plaintiff's constitutional rights, and (2) whether the right violated was clearly established at the time of the official's conduct. Id. at 232. For a right to be clearly established,
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