648
Kennedy, J., concurring
ity that is significantly more limited than would be the liability imposed upon the state officer under Ex parte Young." Seminole Tribe, supra, at 75-76.
* * *
We conclude that 28 U. S. C. § 1331 provides a basis for jurisdiction over Verizon's claim that the Commission's order requiring reciprocal compensation for ISP-bound calls is pre-empted by federal law. We also conclude that the doctrine of Ex parte Young permits Verizon's suit to go forward against the state commissioners in their official capacities. We vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand these cases for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice O'Connor took no part in the consideration or decision of these cases.
Justice Kennedy, concurring.
For the reasons well stated by the Court, I agree Verizon Maryland Inc. may proceed against the state commissioners in their official capacity under the doctrine of Ex parte Young, 209 U. S. 123 (1908). When the plaintiff seeks to enjoin a state utility commissioner from enforcing an order alleged to violate federal law, the Eleventh Amendment poses no bar. See Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U. S. 261, 271 (1997) (principal opinion of Kennedy, J., joined by Rehnquist, C. J.).
This is unlike the case in Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, supra, where the plaintiffs tried to use Ex parte Young to divest a State of sovereignty over territory within its boundaries. In such a case, a " 'straightforward inquiry,' " which the Court endorses here, ante, at 645, proves more complex. In Coeur d'Alene seven Members of this Court described Ex parte Young as requiring nothing more than an allegation of an ongoing violation of federal law and a
Page: Index Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007