Opinion ID: 76238
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Immunity from Suit in Federal Court

Text: 18 The Eleventh Amendment provides immunity by restricting federal courts' judicial power: 19 The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 20 U.S. Const. amend. XI. The Eleventh Amendment protects a State from being sued in federal court without the State's consent. 8 As a result, parties with claims against a non-consenting State must resort to the State's own courts. The Eleventh Amendment is a recognition that states, though part of a union, retain attributes of sovereignty, including immunity from being compelled to appear in the courts of another sovereign against their will. McClendon v. Georgia Dep't of Cmty. Health, 261 F.3d 1252, 1256 (11th Cir. 2001). 21 It is also well-settled that Eleventh Amendment immunity bars suits brought in federal court when the State itself is sued and when an arm of the State is sued. See Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 280, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). To receive Eleventh Amendment immunity, a defendant need not be labeled a state officer or state official, but instead need only be acting as an arm of the State, which includes agents and instrumentalities of the State. See Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Doe, 519 U.S. 425, 429-30, 117 S.Ct. 900, 137 L.Ed.2d 55 (1997). Whether a defendant is an arm of the State must be assessed in light of the particular function in which the defendant was engaged when taking the actions out of which liability is asserted to arise. See Shands Teaching Hosp. & Clinics v. Beech St. Corp., 208 F.3d 1308, 1311 (11th Cir. 2000) (The pertinent inquiry is not into the nature of [an entity's] status in the abstract, but its function or role in a particular context.). The particular functions at issue are Sheriff Peterson's force policy at the jail and the training and disciplining of his deputies in that regard. 9