MURPHY, Circuit Judge. The doctrine of qualified immunity insulates public officials from liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless the caselaw existing at the time of their actions clearly established that they violated the Constitution. There often will not be much difference between the then-existing law and the current law. As this case shows, however, this distinction can sometimes matter.

In July 2018, Brian Lawler tragically committed suicide at a county jail. To hold officers liable for failing to prevent a pretrial detainee’s death at that time, our caselaw required proof that the officers subjectively believed that there was a strong likelihood the inmate would commit suicide. See Grabow v. County of Macomb, 580 F. App’x 300, 307–09 (6th Cir. 2014). Today, however, our court would hold officers liable if they recklessly overlooked a pretrial detainee’s strong likelihood of suicide—even if they did not subjectively recognize it. See Helphenstine v. Lewis County, 60 F.4th 305, 316–17 (6th Cir. 2023). When denying qualified immunity to the officers sued in this case, the district court held that a reasonable jury could find that they “recklessly disregarded” the strong risk that Lawler would commit suicide. But that standard governs today; it did not govern when Lawler committed suicide in 2018. And when we apply the correct test, the evidence shows that the officers did not subjectively believe that Lawler was likely to take his life. We thus reverse the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to the officers.