The Defendants also argued that the district court erred when it denied them qualified immunity. As the Defendants have conceded, qualified immunity is only an immunity from a suit for damages, and does not provide immunity from suit for declaratory or injunctive relief. See L.A. Police Protective League v. Gates, 995 F.2d 1469, 1472 (9th Cir.1993). The Defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity to the extent that the Plaintiffs seek monetary damages.
In analyzing the Defendants’ qualified immunity defense, we must determine: (1) what right has been violated; (2) whether that right was so “clearly established” at the time of the incident that a reasonable official would have been aware that the conduct violated constitutional bounds; and (3) whether a reasonable public official could have believed that the alleged conduct 989 was lawful. See Newell v. Sauser, 79 F.3d 115, 117 (9th Cir.1996).
To withstand the Defendants’ claims of qualified immunity, the Plaintiffs must allege a violation of a right that was clearly established in 1998 — the time the alleged constitutional violations first occurred. See Anderson, 483 U.S. at 639-40, 107 S.Ct. 3034; Sorrels v. McKee, 290 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir.2002). To defeat qualified immunity, “the right allegedly violated must be defined at the appropriate level of specificity before a court can determine if it was clearly established.” Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 615, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999).
But, the Plaintiffs need not establish that the Defendants’ “behavior had been previously declared unconstitutional.” Blueford v. Prunty, 108 F.3d 251, 254 (9th Cir.1997). Rather, if binding authority indicates that “the disputed right existed, even if no case had specifically so declared,” the Defendants would be on notice of the right. Id. at 255. If the occasion has not risen for our circuit to reach a question, we may draw clearly established law from other circuits. See Prison Legal News v. Lehman, 397 F.3d 692, 701 (9th Cir.2005); Jacobs v. City of Chicago, 215 F.3d 758, 767 (7th Cir.2000) (finding a violation of clearly established law where there is “such a clear trend in the case law” that recognition of the right is “only a matter of time”).
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