Opinion ID: 159803
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Means of Waiver

Text: 19 Generally, a state may waive its Eleventh Amendment immunity in one of two ways. First, a state waives its immunity if it voluntarily invokes the jurisdiction of a federal court. See College Sav. Bank, 119 S. Ct. at 2226. Second, a state waives its immunity if it makes a clear declaration that it intends to submit itself to [a federal court's] jurisdiction. Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 20 A state can make a clear declaration of its consent to be sued in federal court by expressly waiving its immunity through a state statute or constitutional provision. See Innes, 184 F.3d at 1278. A state can also declare its intent to submit to suit by impliedly or constructively waiving its immunity if the declaration is clear and altogether voluntary. See generally College Sav. Bank, 119 S. Ct. 2219 (overruling the constructive waiver doctrine of Parden v. Terminal Ry. of Ala., 377 U.S. 184 (1964), but recognizing that a state may still constructively or impliedly waive its immunity in certain circumstances); see also Innes, 184 F.3d at 1280 (stating that nothing in College Savings Bank forecloses us from examining the underlying facts of a case to determine whether a state has unequivocally expressed its intent to waive its immunity). 21 Here, US West sued the UPSC and the individual commissioners. Accordingly, Utah did not invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court and thereby waive its immunity. Furthermore, Utah did not expressly consent to suit through a state statute or constitutional provision governing this case. See Utah Code Ann. 63-30-16(1) (Supp. 1999) (providing that Utah state district courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over suits brought against the state); Sutton v. Utah State Sch. for the Deaf & Blind, 173 F.3d 1226, 1233 (10th Cir. 1999) (Utah has not waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity by statute.). Thus, the question is whether, under College Savings Bank, Utah constructively waived its immunity from suit when it arbitrated an interconnection dispute between US West, AT&T and MCI pursuant to 252 of the Act.