Opinion ID: 3032189
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Spoklie’s State Claim

Text: [13] Spoklie claims that I-143 violates his property rights under Article II, section 3, of the Montana Constitution. However, the Eleventh Amendment prevents him from asserting that claim in federal court. To the extent he seeks damages from the State and from DFWP, the Eleventh Amendment stands directly in his way. To the extent that he seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under Ex parte Young, he is twentyone years too late. In 1984, in Pennhurst State School & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 104 (1984), the Supreme Court announced that Ex parte Young allows prospective relief against state officers only to vindicate rights under federal law. Since Spoklie seeks to vindicate an asserted right under state rather than federal law, Pennhurst dictates that this claim must be dismissed. 6928 SPOKLIE v. STATE OF MONTANA