Opinion ID: 759207
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Eleventh Amendment and Ex parte Young--An Overview

Text: 12 The Eleventh Amendment generally bars suits against a state in federal court commenced by citizens of that state or citizens of another state. See Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 13-15, 10 S.Ct. 504, 33 L.Ed. 842 (1890). This concept of state sovereign immunity is based on the traditional notion that a state should not be  'amenable to the suit of an individual without its consent.'  Hans, 134 U.S. at 13, 10 S.Ct. 504 (quoting The Federalist, No. 81 (A. Hamilton)). There are, however, two clearly recognized exceptions to the general immunity protections of the Eleventh Amendment: (1) a state may consent to be sued, or (2) Congress may clearly and expressly abrogate the states' immunity. See ANR Pipeline, 150 F.3d at 1187. Neither exception is applicable to the present appeal. 5 So, we turn our attention to the third judicially created alternative for avoiding the general application of state sovereign immunity--the Ex parte Young doctrine. 13 The Ex parte Young doctrine is not actually an exception to Eleventh Amendment state immunity because it applies only when the lawsuit involves an action against state officials, not against the state. Generally, the law considers state officials acting in their official capacities to be acting on behalf of the state and immune from unconsented lawsuits under the Eleventh Amendment. Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-66, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985) ([A]n official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit against the entity.... It is not a suit against the official personally, for the real party in interest is the entity.); see also Pennhurst State School & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 101-02, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984). However, Ex parte Young creates a narrow exception to this general rule. In Ex parte Young, the Supreme Court held the Eleventh Amendment generally does not bar a suit against a state official in federal court which seeks only prospective equitable relief for violations of federal law, even if the state is immune. Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 159-60, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908) The Court recognize[d] that if a state official violates federal law, he is stripped of his official or representative character and may be personally liable for his conduct. Coeur d'Alene Tribe, 521 U.S. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2043 (1997) (O'Connor, J., concurring). For years, the Supreme Court has applied Ex parte Young to allow suits for prospective relief against a state officer to enjoin future violations of federal law, but it has consistently prohibited any retroactive or compensatory relief. Edelman, 415 U.S. at 666-68, 94 S.Ct. 1347 (relief that includes retroactive payments, even if brought against a state official, is actually a suit against the state and barred by the Eleventh Amendment). 14 The general doctrine from Ex parte Young allows expanded federal jurisdiction over state action, and gives the federal courts a powerful tool for ensuring state compliance with federal laws. However, the decision whether to apply Ex parte Young and allow a suit to proceed in federal court is often less than clear, and case law in this area reveals the difficulty of drawing principled distinctions on the facts of different cases. Courts struggle to find a compromise between vindicating the supremacy of federal law and upholding the immunity of the states under the Eleventh Amendment. This is especially true when, as in the case before us, the controversy involves not simply a violation of federal law, but relief impacting the validity of an asserted state property interest. 6 15 The struggle to define the limits of the Ex parte Young doctrine is evident from recent Supreme Court precedent. In Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the Supreme Court barred federal jurisdiction over claims for purely prospective relief against a state official to compel compliance with federal law. 7 Coeur d'Alene Tribe involved a suit by an Indian Tribe against Idaho's state officials to establish the Tribe's ownership rights to submerged lands within the boundaries of a reservation established under federal law in 1873. 521 U.S. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2032. The Court held that even when a suit is commenced against state officials, and the [plaintiff] has alleged an on-going violation of its property rights in contravention of federal law and seeks prospective injunctive relief, that is not enough to invoke the Ex parte Young doctrine if the suit over property interests is the functional equivalent of a quiet title action which implicates special sovereignty interests. Id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2040 (emphasis added). The Court found the State itself will have a continuing interest in the litigation whenever state policies or procedures are at stake, and that to interpret Young to permit a federal court action to proceed in every case where prospective declaratory and injunctive relief is sought against an officer, named in his individual capacity, would be to adhere to an empty formalism and to undermine the principle ... that Eleventh Amendment immunity represents a real limitation on a federal court's federal-question jurisdiction. Id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2034. The Court suggested that if the relief requested involved the adjudication of property interests (like a quiet title action) that implicate[ ] special sovereignty interests and is coupled with far-reaching and invasive relief, the Ex parte Young doctrine is inapplicable, and the state should be allowed to respond to the claims against it in its own courts. Id. at ----, ----, 117 S.Ct. at 2040, 2043. 16 Coeur d'Alene Tribe imposes an important new requirement on us. We must examine whether the relief Plaintiffs seek against the state officials implicates special sovereignty interests, and whether that requested relief is the functional equivalent to a form of legal relief against the state that would otherwise be barred by the Eleventh Amendment. ANR Pipeline, 150 F.3d at 1190. Accordingly, we add this latest pronouncement to the traditional three-part inquiry articulated in Treasure Salvors, 458 U.S. 670, 102 S.Ct. 3304, to establish a framework for determining whether a suit against a state official is barred under the Eleventh Amendment. First, we must determine whether this is an action against the state officials or against the State of New Mexico itself; second, whether the alleged conduct of the state officials constitutes a violation of federal law, or merely a tortious interference with Plaintiffs' property rights; third, whether the relief Plaintiffs seek is permissible prospective relief or is it analogous to a retroactive award of damages impacting the state treasury; Treasure Salvors, 458 U.S. at 690, 102 S.Ct. 3304, and finally, whether the suit rises to the level of implicating special sovereignty interests. ANR Pipeline, 150 F.3d at 1193 (internal citation omitted).