O'Connor

MEMORANDUM ***

Plaintiff-Appellee James O’Connor (“O’Connor”) was formerly a state prisoner at Pelican Bay State Prison (“Pelican Bay”). The former director of the California Department of Corrections and the former warden of Pelican Bay State Prison appeal interlocutorily the district court’s denial of qualified immunity in Plaintiffs 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action brought against them. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse and remand with instructions to enter judgment for the defendants dismissing this case on the ground of qualified immunity.

We review the denial of qualified immunity de novo. Branch v. Tunnell, 937 F.2d *315 1382, 1385 (9th Cir.1991). The test for determining whether an official can be shielded by qualified immunity is two-fold. The court must consider whether (1) “the law governing the conduct was clearly established,” and if so, whether (2) “under that law, a reasonable official could have believed his conduct was lawful.” Thompson v. Souza, 111 F.3d 694, 698 (9th Cir. 1997).

O’Connor alleged that defendants were deliberately indifferent to his safety in violation of the Eighth Amendment by placing him in the general population of Level…