Opinion ID: 518184
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Immunity Under Eleventh Amendment

Text: 12 Plaintiff asserts that his claims under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1988 against the State, the University, and the individual defendants acting in their official capacities are not barred by the eleventh amendment. 3 We disagree. 13 The Supreme Court expressly has held that the eleventh amendment prohibits damage suits against states under section 1983. Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 342, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1146, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979); Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 663, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1355, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). We see no reason why the Supreme Court's reasoning and holding should not apply with equal force to plaintiff's civil rights claims under section 1985 (conspiracy) and section 1986 (failure to prevent conspiracy violations). See, e.g., Williams v. Bennett, 689 F.2d 1370, 1376-77 (11th Cir.1982) (state board of corrections immune from damage suits brought under sections 1983, 1985, and 1986), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 932, 104 S.Ct. 335, 78 L.Ed.2d 305 (1983). 4 14 Nor do we agree with plaintiff's contention that the University or its Board of Regents is separate from the State for eleventh amendment purposes. The relationship between a public entity and a state is determined by state law. Korgich v. Regents of New Mexico School of Mines, 582 F.2d 549, 551 (10th Cir.1978); Unified School Dist. No. 480 v. Epperson, 583 F.2d 1118, 1121 (10th Cir.1978). Under Oklahoma's constitutional and statutory scheme, the Board of Regents, which supervises the University and in whose name all suits against the University must be brought, is an arm of the State. Okla. Const. arts. XIII, XIII-A, XIII-B; Okla.Stat.Ann. tit. 70 Secs. 3201-3310 (1981). See Gay Activists Alliance v. Board of Regents, 638 P.2d 1116, 1123 (Okla.1981) (For the purpose of monetary damages, as an administrative agency, in essence an arm of the State, the Board [of Regents of the University] enjoys the privilege of Eleventh Amendment ... immunity granted to the State). 15 It seems obvious that a judgment against the University or the individual defendants in their official capacities must be paid from public funds in the state treasury, and hence is barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Quern, 440 U.S. at 337, 99 S.Ct. at 1143. As we have stated previously, a suit in a federal court against the members of a state board or agency acting in their official capacities is a suit against the board or agency itself, and [is] subject to the immunity afforded by the Eleventh Amendment. Unified School Dist. No. 480 v. Epperson, 583 F.2d 1118, 1121 (10th Cir.1978). See also, e.g., Brandon v. Holt, 469 U.S. 464, 471-72, 105 S.Ct. 873, 877-78, 83 L.Ed.2d 878 (1985) (a judgment against a public servant 'in his official capacity' imposes liability on the entity that he represents); McGhee v. Draper, 639 F.2d 639, 642 (10th Cir.1981) (official-capacity suits generally represent only another way of pleading an action against an entity of which an officer is an agent), quoting Monell v. Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 690 n. 55, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035 n. 55, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). 16 Moreover, contrary to plaintiff's assertion, nothing indicates to us that Oklahoma has waived its eleventh amendment immunity. See Edelman, 415 U.S. at 673, 94 S.Ct. at 1360 (waiver of eleventh amendment immunity must be based upon  'the most express language or by such overwhelming implications from the text as [will] leave no room for any other reasonable construction' ), quoting Murray v. Wilson Distilling Co., 213 U.S. 151, 171, 29 S.Ct. 458, 464, 53 L.Ed. 742 (1909). Although plaintiff is correct that Oklahoma has waived its sovereign immunity in certain circumstances, that waiver does not, in and of itself, amount to a waiver of Oklahoma's eleventh amendment immunity. See Wallace v. State of Oklahoma, 721 F.2d 301, 305 (10th Cir.1983). 17 Consequently, the district court properly dismissed the damage actions against the State, the University, and the individual defendants acting in their official capacities. We must reach the remaining issues because plaintiff has requested injunctive relief as well as damages, and because plaintiff has sued the individual defendants in their individual capacities as well as their official capacities.