304
Souter, J., dissenting
officials to conform their future conduct to the requirements of federal law, even though such an injunction may have an ancillary effect on the state treasury"). However burdensome it may be to the State when its officers are ordered to stop violating federal law, it is not the cost of future compliance with federal law, but its character as such, that counts. See, e. g., id., at 347-349; Milliken v. Bradley, 433 U. S. 267, 288-290 (1977); Edelman, supra, at 664-668.6 In this case, of course, the State has not identified any charge on its funds that might be comparable to the cost of compliance approved in Edelman: the consequence of any success the Tribe might ultimately have would simply be the end of a regulatory regime (including some fee income) that federal law would
6 While the principal opinion suggests these cases embody a "careful balancing and accommodation of state interests when determining whether the Young exception applies in a given case," ante, at 278, in fact they simply reflect the Court's effort to demarcate the line between prospective and retrospective relief. That Young represents a "balance of federal and state interests," Papasan v. Allain, 478 U. S. 265, 277 (1986), does not mean the doctrine's application should be balanced against other factors in any given case. Instead, Young's rule recognizing federal judicial power in suits against state officers to enjoin ongoing violations of federal law itself strikes the requisite balance between state and federal interests. Where these conditions are met, no additional "balancing" is required or warranted.
The principal opinion suggests that we held Young to apply in Milliken v. Bradley, 433 U. S. 267 (1977), because the complaint sought to vindicate civil liberties and accordingly involved strong federal interest. See ante, at 279. The undeniable federal interest in protecting civil liberties, however, was not the reason we applied the Young remedy in Milliken. The sole enquiry in this regard was whether the relief sought was fairly characterized as prospective. See 433 U. S., at 289 (noting that decree "fits squarely within the prospective-compliance exception reaffirmed by Edelman"). Given that we do not view a suit against a state officer for prospective relief as a suit against the State, the fact, as the majority in Seminole Tribe reaffirmed, see Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U. S. 44, 59 (1996), that Congress may abrogate state immunity from suit in legislation enacted pursuant to § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment has no bearing on Young's application.
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