Court Opinion

ID: 9483478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:21:24.977167+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:38.823657
License: Public Domain

T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring.
I write separately only to emphasize that courts must still analyze the specifics of the conduct involved when determining whether a suit is against an official in his or her “official” or “individual” capacity. Our quote of the cryptic statement from Hafer, that “the phrase ‘acting in their official’ capacities can best be understood as a reference to the capacity in which the state officer is sued, not the capacity in which the officer inflicts the alleged injury” could be understood as meaning that a glance at the caption of the case is all that is required. This is too narrow a view, I believe.
A shorthand analysis of “official” versus “individual” capacity camouflages the real question. A state official acting within the scope of her office, as Ms. Hafer was, is always a state official. The issue to be addressed is not whether the officer acted in her official capacity, but whether she is individually liable for her conduct. The answer to this question depends on the quality of her acts, not whether she did them within the limits of her state-granted authority. If her acts deprived the plaintiff of civil rights under federal law, then she is liable for the consequences, absent some personal immunity defense.
In my view, Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit authority support an analysis of “individual capacity” as follows: An official is being sued in his individual capacity if his action was beyond the scope of his designated power (i.e., ultra vires). Pennhurst II, 465 U.S. at 101 n. 11, 104 S.Ct. at 908 n. 11, Florida Dept. of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670, 689, 102 S.Ct. 3304, 3317, 73 L.Ed.2d 1057 (1982). Action is ultra vires in the following three circumstances: (1) if the official’s act is beyond the limits of his statutorily designated authority (Treasure Salvors, 458 U.S. at 697, 102 S.Ct. at 3320; Capitol Industries-EMI, Inc. v. Bennett, 681 F.2d 1107, 1120 (9th Cir.) cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1087, 103 S.Ct. 570, 74 L.Ed.2d 932 (1982)); (2) if the official is acting pursuant to an unconstitutional statute (Ex parte Young1, 209 U.S. 123, 159-60, 28 S.Ct. 441, 453-54, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908); Capitol Industries-EMI, Inc. v. Bennett, 681 F.2d 1107, 1120) (9th Cir.1982); and (3) if the official himself commits an unconstitutional act or deprives another of a federal right (Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 3105, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 237, 94 S.Ct. 1683, *4751687, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); see generally Hafer, — U.S. at-, 112 S.Ct. at 362; Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. at 159-60, 28 S.Ct. at 453-54).
Neither the Ninth Circuit nor this case originated the official capacity versus individual capacity labels we all now use. To the extent that their use here may serve to confuse those who read this case, I suggest only that an analysis of the substance of the defendant’s acts is still required, not merely a look at the caption of the case to see how the defendant is named.

. Theoretically, in an Ex parte Young ultra vires scenario, an official can be sued in his official capacity if injunctive relief is sought from the state, and in his individual capacity if relief is sought from the officer personally.