Hurst v. Texas Dept. of Assistive & Rehab. Servs., 05-51656.

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
• Citation: 482 F.3d 809
• Docket Number: No. 05-51656.,05-51656.
• Parties: Louise Elizabeth HURST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF ASSISTIVE AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, also known as DARS; Terry Murphy, Commissioner of DARS, Defendants-Appellees.
• Decision Date: 26 March 2007

482 F.3d 809 Louise Elizabeth HURST, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF ASSISTIVE AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, also known as DARS; Terry Murphy, Commissioner of DARS, Defendants-Appellees. No. 05-51656. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. March 26, 2007.

Michael Earl Urene (argued), Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Eagle Pass, TX, Alpha Hernandez, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Del Rio, TX, Susan F. Zinn, San Antonio, TX, for Hurst.

Joe Henry Thrash (argued), Austin, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.

[482 F.3d 810]

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before DAVIS and STEWART, Circuit Judges, and CRONE^*, District Judge.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the question of whether the State of Texas waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity to suit in federal court by accepting federal funding to support its Vocational Rehabilitation Program under Title I of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 701-796. The district court agreed with the State of Texas that 29 U.S.C. § 722(c)(5)(J)(i) did not represent a clear-statement of congressional intent to condition the State's receipt of federal funds upon the State's waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND.

Appellant, Louise Elizabeth Hurst (Hurst), filed this suit in district court to review the denial of medical treatment by the Texas Rehabilitation Commission (now the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, also referred to DARS). Appellant exhausted all available remedies which culminated in an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge who affirmed the denial of medical services and the denial of a motion for reconsideration of that decision.

The defendants in the district court responded to Hurst's suit with a motion to dismiss, based on Eleventh Amendment immunity of the State of Texas to suit in federal court. The magistrate judge to whom the motion was referred found that Congress in § 722(c)(5)(J)(i) clearly conditioned the State's receipt of federal funds under this program upon the State's waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity. DARS filed objections to the magistrate judge's recommendation. The district court declined to accept the magistrate judge's recommendation and dismissed the case without prejudice on grounds that Congress had not clearly declared its intent to condition the State's receipt of federal funds upon the State's waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity. Hurst challenges the district court's ruling in this appeal.

II. WAIVER OF ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY BY A STATE.

The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution states "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.C.S. Const. Amend. 11. There are two well-established exceptions to Eleventh Amendment immunity. First, Congress can abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity without a state's consent when acting under its authority under the enforcement provisions of § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234, 238, 105 S.Ct. 3142, 87 L.Ed.2d 171 (1985). Second, a state may waive its immunity and consent to suit in federal court. Id. One way a state may waive its Eleventh Amendment immunity is by accepting federal funds disbursed pursuant to Congress's Article I, § 8 spending power that were properly conditioned on the state forgoing its sovereign immunity. Id., n. 1; Pederson v. Louisiana State Univ., 213 F.3d 858, 876

482 F.3d 811

(5th Cir.2000). Hurst argues that the state of Texas has waived its immunity by accepting federal funding of its Vocational Rehabilitation Program, under Title I of the Rehabilitation Act. 29 U.S.C. § 701-796.

A state's receipt of federal funds does not automatically constitute a waiver of its Eleventh Amendment immunity. The Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 107 S.Ct. 2793, 97 L.Ed.2d 171 (1987) described the limited circumstances in which a waiver will be recognized:

(1) Federal expenditures must benefit the general welfare;

(2) The conditions imposed on the recipients must be unambiguous;

(3) The conditions must be reasonably related to the purpose of the expenditure; and

(4) No condition may violate any independent constitutional prohibition.

Pace v. Bogalusa City Sch. Bd., 403 F.3d 272, 278 (5th Cir.2005), citing Dole, 483 U.S. at 207-08, 107 S.Ct. 2793. Dole also recognizes a fifth requirement that the condition may not be coercive. Id. DARS concedes that the Rehabilitation Act satisfies four of the five elements of this test. The parties dispute whether the second requirement, of an unambiguous statement, has been met.

A state waives its immunity by voluntarily participating in federal spending programs only when Congress includes a clear statement of intent to condition participation in the programs on a State's consent to waive its constitutional immunity. Atascadero, 473 U.S. at 247, 105 S.Ct. 3142. "By insisting that congress speak with a clear voice, we enable the States to exercise their choice [to waive sovereign immunity] knowingly." Pace, 403 F.3d at 279 (quoting Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Haldeman, 451 U.S. 1, 17, 101 S.Ct. 1531, 67 L.Ed.2d 694). In seeking to determine whether the language of a condition is sufficiently clear, courts must view the statute "from the perspective of a state official who is engaged in the process of deciding whether the state should accept [federal] funds and the obligations that go with those funds," asking "whether . . . a state official would clearly understand [the nature of the condition]." Arlington Cent. Sch. Dist. Bd. Of Educ. v. Murphy, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 2455, 2459, 165 L.Ed.2d 526 (2006). "In a Spending Clause case, the key is not [the intention of Congress] but what the States are clearly told regarding the conditions that go along with the acceptance of . . . funds." Id. at 2463. A statute must furnish "clear notice regarding the liability at issue" to which the state has allegedly waived its immunity. Id. at 2459.

Hurst argues that § 102 of the Rehabilitation Act codified at 29 U.S.C. § 722(c)(5)(J)(i) provides a clear-statement of intent to require a state to waive its Eleventh Amendment immunity in order to receive federal funds based on the underlined language in this subsection of § 722:

(i) in general. Any party aggrieved by a final decision described in subparagraph (I), may bring a civil action for review of such decision. The action may be brought in any state court of competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction without regard to the amount in controversy. (Emphasis added.)

29 U.S.C. § 722(c)(5)(J)(i)(underlining added). We have found no federal circuit court decisions addressing the specific issue presented in this case, i.e. whether the above quoted provision satisfies the clear statement rule.¹ Fortunately, the United

482 F.3d 812

States Supreme Court has addressed this issue in regard to a different section of the Rehabilitation Act with language very similar to that used in § 722.

In Atascade...