Opinion ID: 776476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Eleventh Amendment Immunity of the State and the Board

Text: 9 Carey argues that the State and the Board are not immune from the present action because Nevada waived its sovereign immunity by statute. 2 Although Nevada Revised Statute § 41.031 does indeed waive sovereign immunity under some circumstances, it specifically preserves Eleventh Amendment 3 immunity. Citing Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 713, 119 S.Ct. 2240, 144 L.Ed.2d 636 (1999), Carey argues that Nevada's immunity from suit by its own residents derives from common-law sovereign immunity, not from the Eleventh Amendment. Carey thus contends that Nevada, in waiving sovereign immunity, has consented to be sued in federal court by its own residents. 10 Although Carey makes an interesting argument, we are not free to disregard binding precedent. Ninth Circuit cases interpreting § 41.031 have unanimously concluded that Nevada's retention of Eleventh Amendment immunity bars all actions against Nevada in federal court, including those brought by Nevada residents. See Romano, 169 F.3d at 1185; Austin v. State Indus. Ins. Sys., 939 F.2d 676, 677 (9th Cir.1991); O'Connor v. Nevada, 686 F.2d 749, 750 (9th Cir.1982) (per curiam); Productions & Leasing v. Hotel Conquistador Inc., 573 F.Supp. 717, 720 (D.Nev.1982), aff'd, 709 F.2d 21, 21-22 (9th Cir.1983). Federal courts have assumed that Nevada's waiver of sovereign immunity only gives Nevada's consent to suits in its own courts, Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410, 421, 99 S.Ct. 1182, 59 L.Ed.2d 416 (1979); and indeed, as far as we are aware, every action in which an individual successfully sued the State of Nevada under § 41.031 was litigated in a Nevada state court. We therefore conclude that the district court correctly granted summary judgment to the State and the Board, a state agency, see Romano, 169 F.3d at 1185, based on Eleventh Amendment immunity.