Bradley v. US

• Decision Date: 24 September 1998
• Docket Number: No. 98-1010,98-1830,98-1010
• Citation: 189 F.3d 745
• Parties: (8th Cir. 1999) Thomas Bradley, as Natural Guardian of, and on behalf of David Bradley, a minor; Dianna Bradley, as Natural Guardian of, and on behalf of David Bradley, a minor; Plaintiffs - Appellees, United States of America, Intervenor on Appeal, v. Arkansas Department of Education; Mike Crowley, individually and in his capacity as an employee of the Arkansas Department of Education; Defendants - Appellants, Williford School District 39; John Does, 1-10, Defendants, Advocacy Services, Inc., Amicus Curiae. Jim C, individually and as parent and next friend of J.C.; Susan C, individually and as parent and next friend of J.C.; Plaintiffs - Appellees, United States of America, Intervenor on Appeal, v. Atkins School District; Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative; Defendants, Arkansas Department of Education, Defendant - Appellant. Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 745

189 F.3d 745 (8th Cir. 1999)

Thomas Bradley, as Natural Guardian of, and on behalf of David Bradley, a minor; Dianna Bradley, as Natural Guardian of, and on behalf of David Bradley, a minor; Plaintiffs - Appellees, United States of America, Intervenor on Appeal, v. Arkansas Department of Education; Mike Crowley, individually and in his capacity as an employee of the Arkansas Department of Education; Defendants - Appellants, Williford School District 39; John Does, 1-10, Defendants, Advocacy Services, Inc., Amicus Curiae.

Jim C, individually and as parent and next friend of J.C.; Susan C, individually and as parent and next friend of J.C.; Plaintiffs - Appellees, United States of America, Intervenor on Appeal, v. Atkins School District; Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative; Defendants, Arkansas Department of Education, Defendant - Appellant.

No. 98-1010, 98-1830

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: September 24, 1998

Filed: August 31, 1999

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Before BOWMAN, Chief Judge,¹

LOKEN, and KELLY,² Circuit Judges.

BOWMAN, Chief Judge.

In these two cases, consolidated on appeal, Arkansas residents brought suit against the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and other defendants, alleging violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C.A. 1400-1487 (West Supp. 1999); 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. 794 (1994); and other provisions of state and federal law. The State of Arkansas, representing the ADE and Mike Crowley, a Bradley defendant and ADE employee, moved the District Court in each case to dismiss the actions, claiming the Eleventh Amendment prevented a federal court from exercising jurisdiction over such claims. The District Court denied Arkansas's motions with respect to the IDEA and, in Jim C., 504 of the RA. The state then filed these interlocutory appeals.

I.

These interlocutory appeals involve exclusively legal issues, so we provide only a brief summary of the facts of each case. In Bradley, Thomas and Dianna Bradley filed suit against the ADE, ADE employee Mike Crowley, the local school district, and other unidentified individual defendants, alleging violations of the IDEA and other state and federal statutes. The Bradleys' IDEA claim asserts that the ADE, Crowley, and the local school district failed to provide an adequate due process hearing under the IDEA to review their son David's Individual Education Program (IEP).³

Representing the ADE and Crowley, Arkansas moved for dismissal or in the alternative for summary judgment on a number of grounds. One argument Arkansas raised is that the Eleventh Amendment bars a federal court from exercising jurisdiction over the Bradleys' IDEA claim.

The Honorable James M. Moody, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, denied the state's motion. Judge Moody concluded that the IDEA was a valid exercise of Congress's power under 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce the Equal Protection Clause, and that the IDEA's provisions abrogating the state's Eleventh Amendment immunity therefore were valid under Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996). See Bradley v. Arkansas Dep't of Educ., No. LR-C-96-1004, slip op. at 4 (E.D. Ark. Nov. 21, 1997) (order denying motion to dismiss or for summary judgment). Arkansas appealed the denial of its motion to dismiss the Bradleys' IDEA claim on Eleventh Amendment grounds, and Judge Moody stayed proceedings pending this appeal.

In Jim C., Jim and Susan C. filed suit against the ADE, Arch Ford Education Services Cooperative, and the local school district, alleging violations of the IDEA, 504 of the RA, 42 U.S.C. 1983 (1994), and state law. In particular, Jim and Susan C. claimed that their child, J.C., should receive additional treatment consistent with the Lovaas program, a methodology found to have some success in treating children with autism. See Jim C. v. Atkins Sch. Dist., No. LR-C-96-748, slip op. at 2 (E.D. Ark.Feb. 23, 1998) (memorandum opinion and order). Representing the ADE, Arkansas moved for dismissal or in the alternative for summary judgment, asserting in part that the Eleventh Amendment prevented a federal court from exercising jurisdiction over Jim and Susan C.'s IDEA, 504, and 1983 claims.

The Honorable G. Thomas Eisele, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, denied Arkansas's motion to dismiss Jim and Susan C.'s IDEA and 504 claims. Judge Eisele agreed with Judge Moody's order in Bradley that the abrogation provision in the IDEA was a valid exercise of Congress's 5 power. See id. at 5-6 (quoting Bradley, LR-C-96-1004, slip op. at 4). Judge Eisele also determined 504 was a valid exercise of Congress's 5 power. See id. at 7 ⁴ Therefore, the District Court concluded it had jurisdiction over the IDEA and 504 claims. Arkansas appealed, and the District Court held in abeyance its ruling on further motions and granted a continuance while the appeal was pending. See id. Arkansas then requested that Jim C. be consolidated with Bradley.

II.

The text of the Eleventh Amendment reads: "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." U.S. Const. amend. XI. The Amendment's text, however, does not accurately define the bounds of the immunity that the Amendment reflects. See Alden v. Maine, 119 S. Ct. 2240, 2246 (1999) (stating that "Eleventh Amendment immunity," while a convenient shorthand, is "something of a misnomer, for the sovereign immunity of the States neither derives from nor is limited by the terms of the Eleventh Amendment"). Rather, Eleventh Amendment immunity generally prevents an unwilling state from being sued in federal court. See Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Educ. Expense Bd. v. College Sav. Bank, 119 S. Ct. 2199, 2204 (1999) [hereinafter Florida Prepaid]; Seminole Tribe, 517 U.S. at 54; see also Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 61, 267 (1997) (saying the Eleventh Amendment "enacts a sovereign immunity from suit, rather than a nonwaivable limit on the Federal Judiciary's subject-matter jurisdiction"). The Amendment's protections also may reach to state officials and state agencies, see Hadley v. North Ark. Community Technical College, 76 F.3d 1437, 1438 (8th Cir. 1996) (quoting Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 123 n.34 (1984)), cert. denied 519 U.S. 1148 (1997), and to suits brought against a state by citizens of that same state, see Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 15 (1890); see also Coeur d'Alene, 521 U.S. at 268 (reaffirming Hans). Therefore, the Eleventh Amendment may prevent the plaintiffs in these consolidated cases, all citizens of Arkansas, from proceeding in federal court against the ADE, an Arkansas state agency, and defendant Crowley, an ADE official, for alleged violations of the IDEA and 504.

Although agreeing that Eleventh Amendment analysis is appropriate, the plaintiffs and intervenor the United States argue that three exceptions to Arkansas's Eleventh Amendment immunity allow the plaintiffs to proceed with their claims in federal court. First, the plaintiffs assert that Congress, exercising the power granted it by 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment abrogated the states' immunity and forced unwilling states to defend themselves in federal court against claims brought for violating the IDEA and 504. Second, they argue that Arkansas waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity because it received federal funds appropriated with the conditions imposed by the IDEA and 504, and that one of the conditions imposed was that a state consent to defend itself in federal court against claims arising under those statutes. Finally, the Bradleys contend that, even if Arkansas is shielded by its. Eleventh Amendment immunity, defendant Crowley nevertheless may be enjoined from engaging in future conduct that is contrary to federal law.

III.

Turning first to the plaintiffs' arguments that federal courts have jurisdiction over IDEA claims brought against the ADE and, in Bradley, defendant Crowley, we note that this Court recently has considered whether a state may be sued in federal court for alleged violations of the IDEA. In that decision, Little Rock School District v. Mauney, 183 F.3d 816(8th Cir.1999), we allowed private citizens' claims that the ADE had violated the IDEA to proceed in federal court on two independent grounds, either of which was a sufficient basis for rejecting the ADE's claim of Eleventh Amendment immunity: (1) that the IDEA abrogated the states' immunity and that the abrogation was effective because Congress exercised its power under 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment when enacting the IDEA; and (2) that Congress created a valid spending program when it enacted the IDEA, and that Arkansas waived its immunity when it participated in IDEA programs, accepting funds appropriated pursuant to the IDEA and governed by the conditions imposed by the IDEA. See id. at 831-32.

After our opinion in Mauney was filed, however, the Supreme Court announced a trilogy of Eleventh Amendment cases, Alden, Florida Prepaid, and College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board, 119 S. Ct. 2219 (1999) [hereinafter College Savings]. This Court then announced its en banc decision in Alsbrook v. City of Maumelle, 184 F.3d 999(8th Cir. 1999) (en banc). Looking at these more recent authorities, we conclude that Florida Prepaid and Alsbrook undercut Mauney's abrogation analysis. Therefore, we reexamine the question whether a private citizen's suit for a violation of the IDEA may be brought against an unwilling state in federal court.

A.

To determine whether the IDEA abrogates the states'...