SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY
Health Freedom Defense Fund, Inc. v. Carvalho – Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (22-55908)

MEMBER(S) INVOLVED: Los Angeles Unified School District

IMPORTANCE OF STATEWIDE ISSUE:

The Eleventh Amendment provides, “[t]he 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.” This is referred to as “sovereign immunity.” This immunity bars federal lawsuits for money damages against states or entities that are considered “arms of the state,” unless Congress has specifically authorized such a suit (e.g., the IDEA authorizes suits against school districts in federal court). Numerous school districts have obtained dismissals of lawsuits against them based on this doctrine.

This is longstanding precedent. The Ninth Circuit first found a California school district to be an “arm of the state” and, thus, immune from a suit pursuant to the Eleventh Amendment more than 30 years ago in Belanger v. Madera Unified School District. Three years later, they found the same for county offices of education in Eaglesmith v. Ward. In 2017, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed these holdings when parties sought to overturn Belanger and Eaglesmith based on the implementation of Assembly Bill 97 (Local Control Funding Formula) by claiming that the change to school funding meant that districts and county offices were no longer arms of the state. Then, in 2023, the Ninth Circuit switched course and announced a new, three-factor test to determine whether an entity is an arm of the state for purposes of sovereign immunity in Kohn v. State Bar of California: “In determining whether entity is arm of state, and thus entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity, court must consider: (1) state’s intent as to entity’s status, including functions performed by entity; (2) state’s control over entity; and (3) entity’s overall effects on state treasury.” This analysis might apply differently in different states, depending upon the relationship LEAs have with their state government. However, the current precedent holds that California school districts and county offices of education enjoy sovereign immunity. In this case, the Ninth Circuit has issued a request for supplemental briefing that indicates it might seek to overturn this precedent.

SUMMARY OF CASE/ACTION TAKEN BY THE ELA:
This case arose out of a challenge to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s COVID vaccination policy. The district court initially dismissed the plaintiff’s case due to LAUSD’s withdrawal of the policy in question. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision and the district requested that the court rehear the case “en banc” (with a larger panel of justices), to consider its arguments including if the case was moot. The Ninth Circuit granted the request and expanded the considerations before the court by requesting supplemental briefing on the rehearing en banc on an issue not determined in either the district court or the original Ninth Circuit decision, but initially raised in a concurring opinion: whether the cases that hold that California schools are entitled to sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution should be overruled.

Despite the longstanding precedent discussed above, one justice questioned whether school districts and county offices of education still enjoy sovereign immunity under Kohn’s new test, and the court requested supplemental briefing on that issue, specifically asking whether Belanger and Eaglesmith should be overturned. This request signaled that it is possible that the court could decide that California school districts do not have sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment, which could open a route for numerous federal lawsuits against districts and county offices that were previously barred. If the court were to rule this way, it could potentially affect all districts and county offices in the state. The ELA felt that the new test under Kohn, if applied to California school districts and county offices of education, would still result in the holding that they are entitled to sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.

The ELA filed its brief on March 7, 2025, and argued that the Kohn factors apply to provide sovereign immunity to California school districts and county offices of education and that the consequences of overruling this longstanding precedent would be significantly detrimental to public education in California.

CURRENT STATUS AND/OR OUTCOME:
On July 31, 2025, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion finding that the case is not moot but affirming the district court’s order granting LAUSD’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. This determination led to the court’s conclusion in a footnote that it would not consider the question of sovereign immunity for school districts under the Kohn test in this case, leaving the matter open for consideration at another time.
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