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Opinion of the Court
relevant here, the "unilateral action of the party who prevailed in the lower court." U. S. Bancorp Mortgage Co., 513 U. S., at 23; cf. id., at 29 ("mootness by reason of settlement [ordinarily] does not justify vacatur of a judgment under review").
As just explained, Yniguez's changed circumstances—her resignation from public sector employment to pursue work in the private sector—mooted the case stated in her complaint.27 We turn next to the effect of that development on the judgments below. Yniguez urges that vacatur ought not occur here. She maintains that the State acquiesced in the Ninth Circuit's judgment and that, in any event, the District Court judgment should not be upset because it was entered before the mooting event occurred and was not properly appealed. See Brief for Respondent Yniguez 23-25.
Concerning the Ninth Circuit's judgment, Yniguez argues that the State's Attorney General effectively acquiesced in that court's dispositions when he did not petition for this Court's review. See id., at 24-25; Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 10-11, and n. 4 (citing Diamond v. Charles, 476 U. S. 54 (1986)).28 We do not agree that this Court is disarmed in the manner suggested.
27 It bears repetition that Yniguez did not sue on behalf of a class. See supra, at 50; cf. Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U. S. 395, 404 (1975) (Marshall, J., concurring) (mootness determination unavoidable where plaintiff-respondent's case lost vitality and action was not filed on behalf of a class); Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U. S. 393, 397-403 (1975) (recognizing class action exception to mootness doctrine).
28 Designated a respondent in this Court, the State was not required or specifically invited to file a brief answering the AOE/Park petition. In his appearance form, filed January 10, 1996, Arizona's Attorney General made this much plain: The State—aligned with petitioners AOE and Park in that Arizona defended Article XXVIII's constitutionality—did not oppose certiorari; in the event Yniguez did not prevail here, Arizona would seek to recoup the attorney's fees the District Court had ordered the State to pay her. See supra, at 61, n. 16.
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