00-1514 Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota

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Because sec. 1367(d), on its face, purports to apply to dismissals of “any claim asserted under subsection (a),” it could be broadly read to apply to any such claim regardless of the reason for dismissal. But reading subsection (d) to apply when state law claims are dismissed on Eleventh Amendment grounds raises serious doubts about the provision’s constitutionality given state sovereign immunity principles. Such a reading would require a State to defend against a claim in state court that had never been filed in that court until some indeterminate time after the original limitations period had elapsed. There is a rebuttable presumption that equitable tolling under federal law applies to waivers of the United States’ immunity. However, this Court has never held that waivers of a State’s immunity presumptively include federal tolling rules, nor is it obvious that such a presumption would be a realistic assessment of legislative intent. Moreover, a state sovereign prescribes the terms and conditions on which it consents to be sued in its own courts, Beers v. Arkansas, 20 How. 527, 529, and only the sovereign’s consent can qualify the absolute character of its immunity from suit in those courts, Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410, 414. The notion that federal tolling of a state limitations period constitutes an abrogation of state sovereign immunity as to claims against state defendants at least raises a serious constitutional doubt. Thus, this Court has good reason to rely on the statutory construction principle that Congress must make its intention to alter the constitutional balance between the States and the Federal Government unmistakably clear in the statute’s language, Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 65. Section 1367(d)’s lack of clarity is apparent in two respects. With respect to the claims covered, sec. 1367(d) reflects no specific or unequivocal intent to toll the limitations period for claims asserted against nonconsenting States, especially considering that such claims do not fall within sec. 1367(a)’s scope. With respect to the dismissals covered, sec. 1367(d) occurs in the context of a statute that specifically contemplates only a few grounds for dismissal, none based on the Eleventh Amendment. Section 1367(d) may not clearly exclude tolling for claims against nonconsenting States dismissed on Eleventh Amendment grounds, but this Court is looking for a clear statement of what the rule includes, not what it excludes.”

Affirmed.

Local effect:

The issue has not previously been considered in a published Wisconsin decision.

O’Connor, J.; Ginsburg, J., concurring; Stevens, J., dissenting.