Opinion ID: 759207
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Are special sovereign interests at stake?

Text: 29 After Coeur d'Alene, if we determine the relief Plaintiffs seek, although prospective and not tantamount to a damages award, is an excessive intrusion into an area of special state sovereign interest, Ex Parte Young does not apply, and the Eleventh Amendment bars the suit. Coeur d'Alene Tribe, 521 U.S. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2043. However, if the relief involves enjoining a continuing violation of federal law that would have only an incidental effect on special state sovereign interests, then federal jurisdiction is proper under the traditional approach to Ex Parte Young. 30 The fundamental difficulty with the present suit in terms of the sovereign interests at stake, is that in addition to involving a possible continuing violation of federal law, it also has a direct bearing on the validity of New Mexico's claim to profits under the lease. The district court is primarily adjudicating the validity of the state's asserted property interest, even if the court decides the illegality of the assignment provision voided any state property interest from the inception of the lease. Any decision and remedy in this matter at the very least affects the validity of the state's asserted property interest in the revenues and poses a challenge to its current position with regard to the recreation area lands. Thus, we find ourselves in virtually the same dilemma the Ninth Circuit articulated in its Coeur d'Alene Tribe opinion. We are constrained by two general principles: (1) federal courts may not hear actions to quiet title to property in which the state claims an interest, without the state's consent, and (2) declaratory and injunctive relief against state officials to foreclose future violations of federal law is available even if that relief works to put the plaintiff in possession of property also claimed by the state. 42 F.3d at 1252 (9th Cir.1994) (internal citation omitted). Admittedly, the district court is not quieting title to the state's real property in this case, but it is determining the validity of a property interest--New Mexico's claim to profits under the lease. Id. We struggle to find a principled means of distinguishing the real property interest at stake in Coeur d'Alene Tribe with New Mexico's asserted right to income under the assignment provision of the lease in the present case. Both the State of Idaho's interest in submerged lands in Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and New Mexico's interest in profits from the recreation areas, although qualitatively different, fall under the general heading of state property. 31 It is easy to understand how a majority of the Justices in Coeur d'Alene Tribe could decide that the Tribe's suit to divest the State of Idaho of all authority and ownership over submerged lands was actually a suit against the state. 521 U.S. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2047 (O'Connor, J. concurring). However, it is more difficult to say whether the Court intended its ruling to extend to every situation where a state property interest is at issue. We believe the holding of Coeur d'Alene Tribe does not extend that far, but instead reflects the extreme and unusual case in which, although the doctrine of Ex parte Young under traditional principles is applicable, the suit is prohibited because it involves particular and special circumstances, id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2043, that affect special sovereignty interests and cause offense to [the state's] sovereign authority, id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2040. 32 In this light, we examine whether the property interest rises to the level of a special sovereignty interest, ANR Pipeline, 150 F.3d at 1193 (internal citation omitted). After looking at the complete record before us, we decide that although the relief accorded to Plaintiffs will affect the State of New Mexico's future interest in profits under the recreational land lease, either through reformation of the lease or some other form of equitable relief, this impact on state interests does not rise to the level of implicating special sovereignty interests. We rest our decision on a variety of factors we find implicit in the Supreme Court's ruling in Coeur d'Alene Tribe and our recent application of its holding in ANR Pipeline. First, we cannot say the relief the Irrigation and Improvement Districts request is as far-reaching or intrusive as that sought in Coeur d'Alene Tribe and ANR Pipeline. The State of Idaho's interest in its submerged lands in Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and the State of Kansas' interest in its property tax scheme in ANR Pipeline present state sovereign interests to a degree not attained by New Mexico's claims in the present case. Second, the remedy in this case only presents the possibility of a readjustment of priorities for the distribution of profits from certain uses of Project lands, not an impermissible affront to New Mexico's political authority. Our decision to allow this suit in federal court will have minimal effect on the sovereignty and autonomy of the State of New Mexico. Finally, the balance of New Mexico's interest and the federal rights and interests at stake in this matter swings decidedly in favor of federal jurisdiction. See Papasan v. Alain, 478 U.S. 265, 277, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986) (recognizing certain types of cases formally meet the requirements of Ex parte Young, but stretch that case too far and would upset the balance of federal and state interests). The interest of vindicating the federal rights and answering the federal questions involved substantially outweigh the state's sovereign interests. See id. These considerations, coupled with the traditional analysis supporting the application of the Ex parte Young doctrine persuade us the relief Plaintiffs seek does not impermissibly intrude upon the state's dignity and status as a sovereign government. ANR Pipeline, 150 F.3d at 1194.