Is a lawsuit against a state official that challenges the constitutionality of that official's action barred by the Eleventh Amendment?
The following excerpt is from Sinaloa Lake Owners Ass'n v. California Div. of Safety of Dams, a Div. of the California Dept. of Water Resources, 993 F.2d 884 (9th Cir. 1993):
A suit against a state official that challenges the constitutionality of that official's action is not barred by the Eleventh Amendment, unless it "is in fact a suit against [the] State." Id.; see Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). The relief available in such suits, however, is limited to prospective relief; retroactive relief--money damages for past injuries--is barred by the Eleventh Amendment where those damages will be paid from the state treasury. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974).
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