The holding of Saint-Jean v. Palisades Interstate Park Comm'n, __ F.4th __, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 26697 (3d Cir. Sept. 23, 2022), dismissing appeal from 509 F. Supp. 3d. 87 (D.N.J. 2020), although significant—the opinion is precedential—is not the lede.

The technical, legal issue in Saint-Jean is whether the defendants were cloaked in qualified immunity—as peace officers—and if the Third Circuit (a court of statutorily limited appeal jurisdiction) could entertain the appeal from the district court's interlocutory order denying some defendants' motions to dismiss plaintiff's civil rights claims on grounds of immunity. That is a lot to unpack for a lay readership. But for lawyers, it can be stated simply: the order by the district court denying a motion to dismiss the case against the officers was not a final order, and the order did not qualify for any exception to the finality rule, so the Third Circuit dismissed the appeal. Unless jurisdiction can be perfected on a subsequent appeal, the case will continue through discovery, merits motions, and (possibly) trial. In the process, the facts of potential police misconduct, beyond the mere allegations of the complaint, will be exposed—and that is the real story.