No.

02-628 IN T HE

Supreme Court of the United States

DAVID T. GOLDBERG Counsel of Record 99 Hudson Street, 8th Fl. New York, NY 10013 (212) 334-8813

Table of Contents

Statement of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Statement of The Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Summary of Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 I. State Officials Consent To A Federal Courts Decree Waives Eleventh Amendment Objection To Its Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

II. The Eleventh Amendment Provides No Basis For Recognizing A Category Of Federal Court Orders That Are Valid But Not Enforceable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 A. The Eleventh Amendment Does Not Divest A Federal Court Of Inherent Jurisdiction To Enforce Its Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 B. The Fifth Circuit Rule Is Anomalous And Unfair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 III. The Appeals Courts Limitations On Enforceable Decrees Are Unwarranted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 A. State Officials May Undertake And Federal Courts, Enforce Obligations That Go Beyond Compliance With Federal Law . . . . . 21 i

B. The Fifth Circuits Restriction, To Obligations To Which Plaintiffs Have A 1983 Right, Is Wholly Unwarranted . . . . . . . 22 IV. The Fifth Circuits Rules Would Seriously And Unnecessarily Undermine Important Public Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A. The Decision Makes Settlements With State Officials A Practical Impossibility . . . . . . . 27 B. The Fifth Circuits Rules Are Not Necessary To Protect Any Legitimate State Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Table of Authorities Federal Cases Air Courier Conference v. American Postal Workers Union, 498 U.S. 517 (1991) . . . . . . . 25 Anderson v. Dunn, 18 U.S. 204 (1821) . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 20 Antrican v. Odom, 290 F.3d 178, 191(4th Cir. 2002) . . . 25 Badgley v. Santacroce, 800 F.2d 33 (2d Cir. 1986) . . . 13,16 Beckett v. Air Line Pilots Assn, 995 F.2d 280 (D.C. Cir. 1993) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329 (1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Clark v. Bernard, 108 U.S. 436 (1883) . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 26 Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18 Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363 (2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 24 Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228 (1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Dennis v. Higgins, 498 U.S. 439 (1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dugas v. American Surety Co., 300 U.S. 414 (1937) . . . . 14 Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974) . . . . . . . . . . 19, 26 iii

Evans v Jeff D., 475 U.S. 717 (1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 30 In re Factor VIII or IX Concentrate Blood Prods. Litig., 159 F.3d 1016 (7th Cir. 1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Fairmont Creamery Co. v. Minnesota, 275 U.S. 70 (1927) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103 (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501 (1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim FTC v. National Lead Co., 352 U.S. 419 (1957) . . . . . . . 21 Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los Angeles, 493 U.S. 103 (1989) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 9, 23, 25 Green v. Mansour, 474 U.S. 64 (1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 24 Griffin v. Prince Edward County Sch. Bd., 377 U.S. 218 (1964) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Guaranty Natl Ins. Co. v. Gates, 916 F.2d 508 (9th Cir. 1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 200 U.S. 273 (1906) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755 (1987) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hook v Arizona Dept of Corrections, 972 F.2d 1012 (9th Cir. 1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Hormel v. Helvering, 312 U.S. 552 (1941) . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Hudson v. Chicago Teachers Union, 922 F.2d 1306 (7th Cir.1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 30 Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1979) . . . . . . . 15, 16, 27, 30 Idaho v. Couer dAlene Tribe, 521 U.S. 261 (1997) . . . . . 15 Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375 (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 16, 20 Komyatti v Bayh, 96 F.3d 955 (7th Cir. 1996) . 16, 17, 23, 29 Kozlowski v. Coughlin, 871 F.2d 241 (2d Cir. 1989) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 14, 19 Ku v. Tennessee, 332 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2003) . . . . . . . . . 26 Labette County Commrs v. United States ex rel. Moulton, 112 U.S. 217 (1884) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Lapides v. Board of Regents, University System of Georgia, 535 U.S. 613 (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . passim Lawyer v. United States Dept of Justice, 521 U.S. 567 (1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Lelsz v. Kavanagh, 807 F.2d 1243 (5th Cir. 1987) . . . . . . . . . . 6, 14, 22, 23 Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, 292 U.S. 234 (1934) . . . . . . . 13, 24 Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122 (1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 v

Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449 (1975) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Marek v Chesny, 473 U.S. 1 (1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Montgomery v. Maryland, 266 F.3d 334 (4th Cir. 2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374 (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States, 435 U.S. 679 (1978) . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 New York State Assn for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey, 596 F.2d 27 (2d Cir. 1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent, 510 U.S. 355 (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Pasadena City Bd. of Educ. v. Spangler, 427 U.S. 424 (1976) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Peacock v. Thomas, 516 U.S. 349 (1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Pennhurst State School v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89 (1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Prout v. Starr, 188 U.S. 537 (1903) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, 506 U.S. 139 (1993) . . . . . . . . . . 12

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Railway Employees v. Wright, 364 U.S. 642 (1961) . . . . . 30 Riggs v. Johnson County, 73 U.S. 166 (1867) . . . . . . . . . . 14 Root v. Woolworth, 150 U.S. 401, 412 (1893) . . . . . . . . 8, 15 Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk Co. Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 378 (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim Saahir v. Estelle, 47 F.3d 758 (5th Cir.1995) . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, 463 U.S. 85 (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226 (1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Spallone v. United States, 493 U.S. 265 (1989) . . . . . . 16, 30 St. Louis Min. & Mill. Co. v. Montana Mining Co., 171 U.S. 650 (1898) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Envt, 523 U.S. 83, 89 (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 25 Suter v. Artist M., 503 U.S. 347 (1992) . . . . . . . 9, 21, 23, 27 Swift Co. v. United States, 276 U.S. 311 (1928) . . . 9, 19-21 Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. v. Henson, 123 S. Ct. 366 (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 United States v. $92,422.57, 307 F.3d 137 (3rd Cir. 2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 United States v. Armour, 402 U.S. 673 (1971) . . . . . . 27, 28 vii

United States v. Cook County, 167 F.3d 381 (7th Cir. 1999) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 17 United States v. ITT Continental Baking, 420 U.S. 223 (1975) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 United States v. Krilich, 303 F.3d 784 (7th Cir. 2002) . . . 13 United States v. Swift & Co., 286 U.S. 106 (1932) . . . . . . 13 Vecchione, v Wohlgemuth,558 F.2d 150 (3d Cir. 1977) . . 17 Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Serv. Commn, 535 U.S. 635 (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Walker v. Birmingham, 388 U.S. 307 (1967) . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Assn., 443 U.S. 658 (1979) . 16 Watson v. Texas, 261 F.3d 436 (5th Cir. 2001) . . . . . . . . . . 6 Westside Mothers v. Haveman, 133 F. Supp. 2d 549 (E.D. Mich. 2001), revd in part, 289 F.3d 852 (6th Cir. 2002) . . 7 Williams v. First Natl Bank, 216 U.S. 582 (1910) . . . . . . 28 Wisconsin Dept of Corrections v. Schacht, 524 U.S. 381 (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 26, 29 Wisconsin Hosp. Assn v Reivitz, 820 F.2d 863 (7th Cir. 1987) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 15, 16

viii

Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908) . . . . . . . . . . . . passim Statutes and Rules 28 U.S.C.1292(a)(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 21 42 U.S.C. 1396d(r) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 42 U.S.C. 1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim Fed. R. Civ. P. 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 29 Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 11, 21 Fed. R. Civ. P. 68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Other Authorities BLACKS LAW DICTIONARY (6th ed.1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, CHILDREN IN NEED (1989) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A. KRONMAN & R. POSNER, THE ECONOMICS CONTRACT LAW (1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

OF

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Maimon Schwarzschild, Public Law by Private Bargain: Title VII Consent Decrees and the Fairness of Negotiated Institutional Reform, 1984 DUKE L.J. 887 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Statement of Interest* Amici curiae are national membership organizations and civil rights advocates, who share an interest in assuring that obligations imposed under the Constitution and federal health, welfare, and civil rights statutes many of which have been enacted for the benefit and protection of the most vulnerable Americans are fulfilled. Amici and their local affiliates have participated, as both counsel and party, in scores of suits that, like this one, sought government officials compliance with federal law and were resolved consensually, with a federal courts entry of a consent decree. These cases involve matters as varied as prevention of sexual abuse of patients in State institutions for the mentally ill, Caroline C. v. Johnson (D. Neb. 1998); appropriate foster care for abandoned and neglected children, Juan F. v. Rowland (D. Conn. 1991); medical services for children with severe physical and developmental disabilities, Chisholm v. Hood (E.D. La. 1998); and desegregation of public housing, Thompson v. H.U.D. (D. Md. 1996). Many of these decrees are still in force though, consistently with governing equitable principles, a substantial number have been modified, and others, vacated. This long and diverse experience with consent decrees and even more extensive experience in litigation where consensual resolution proved unattainable confirms what this Courts cases have consistently taught: that important public interests are served when parties are able to reach and courts empowered to enforce negotiated settlements. Our experience convinces us that, in addition to the substantial judicial and litigation resources conserved, when adversarial proceedings

This brief was not authored in any part by counsel for a party, and no one other than Amici made a monetary contribution to its preparation or submission. Both parties have consented to its submission.

are avoided official defendants are more likely to achieve goodfaith compliance with federal law, more quickly. As we explain below, the appeals court decision in this case is untenable as a matter of legal principle. The rules imposed by the Fifth Circuit concerning the legal effect of consent decrees and federal courts power to compel compliance with them are irreconcilable with numerous decisions of this Court. But this is also a case where settled law draws strong reenforcement from fundamental policy concerns, and in submitting this Brief, we seek to alert the Court to the important practical reasons for repudiating the decision below. Not only does the Fifth Circuit rule place federal courts in the constitutionally intolerable position of entering decrees that they may not enforce if disobeyed, but, if sustained, it would operate highly unfairly in cases (including Amicis) where consent decrees are now in place, permitting defendants to violate bargained-for, ostensibly binding obligations, without any showing that their operation has become inequitable. At least equally troubling, we believe, would be the systemic consequences of endorsing the approach taken below. By effectively denying consent decrees with State officials any independent, binding force, the Fifth Circuits rules would make negotiated settlement a practical impossibility in a broad array of cases a prospect that would be no more welcome by these officials than it is by Amici and others who sue them in federal court. Statement of The Case This suit was filed in 1993 to compel defendants, Texas officials, to fulfil their obligation to provide indigent children with Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) services, as required by the Medicaid Act. See 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(43)(A); (B); (C); 1396d(r). The complaint described a large-scale failure to provide children with medical,

dental, vision and hearing screens; with necessary corrective treatment; and with information about the EPSDT Program.1 In 1994, after extensive discovery and after the district court had certified the case as a class action, the parties undertook settlement negotiations. In late 1995, they reached an agreement settling most of the claims raised in the complaint and submitted it to the district court, jointly requesting that it be adopted as the courts decree. See Frew v. Gilbert, 109 F. Supp. 2d 579, 588 (E.D. Tex. 2000).2 After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court adjudged the negotiated resolution fair, reasonable, and adequate, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e), and indicating that it was likely that plaintiffs could

As its title suggests, the central thrust of the statuto ry prog ram is promotion of children s health thro ugh pre vention , early detec tion and treatmen t. It is widely accepted tha t such an appro ach is a highly effective use of resource s, see C O M M I T T E E O N E CON OMIC D E V E L O P M EN T , C HILDREN I N N EED (1989), and, as President Johnson emphasized in introducing the program, for children, the difference between early and late diagnosis can be the differenc e betwe en full reco very an d serious, lifelo ng health problem s. 113 CO NG. R EC. 28 83 (Feb . 8, 1967 ). Congress also recognized that, despite the com mon se nse of this preventa tive approach, (1) it represents a real break from the traditional mode of delivering health care to poorer children, which has relied h eavily on ad hoc emergency care; (2) that effective p revention depend s critically on inform ation and outreach efforts that g o beyo nd wh at health care providers have cu stomarily undertaken ; (3) and that these sort of services do not always fare well in competition with other medical services for State officials resource s and atten tion. Because Congress wanted to make clear that, these difficulties aside, promotion of childrens health is a top federal priority (and to en sure that Sta tes, in acceptin g federa l funds, w ould effectively honor that policy choice), the statutory provision s are written in unusually detailed and stringent term s. Earlier that year, the parties had presented the district court with an initial agreement indicating at that time tha t Respon dents fin al approv al would await their havinginform[ed] appropriate legislative and executive offices of the State of the content and po tential financ ial implicatio ns of this agreement.
2

have succeeded at trial Order Entering Decree (Jan. 25, 1996) at 25 entered the settlement as its order. The defendant officials did not appeal. The decree is a lengthy document, 300 F.3d at 353, one in which the officials, without conceding liability,301, committed to a highly detailed and specific [set of] procedures relating to the EPSDT program, 300 F.3d at 535, and undertook to file quarterly reports informing the district court of thestatus of each activity required under the decree, 306-7. The decree is phrased in terms that are unmistakably mandatory and that expressly contemplate court enforcement. Thus, paragraph 6 states that the parties agree [to] and the Court orders * * * implementation of the measures provided for in the decree, id. (emphasis added), and another provision confirms that will a term used throughout the decree creates a mandatory, enforceable obligation, 302 (emphasis added). The officials both in their presentation to the district court and within the decrees four corners expressly acknowledged that the parties agreement was reached within the framework of federal law related to the EPSDT and Medicaid programs. 308. In November 1998, Petitioners filed a motion alleging that the officials were in default on many of the obligations imposed under the consent decree. The district court conducted a fiveday evidentiary hearing in March 2000, and in August 2000, issued an opinion finding that decree violations had been established in most of the areas about which Petitioners had complained.3 After rejecting defendants arguments that

For example, the district court found that, although eligible children and their families are entitled to information about EPSDT and the consent decree required officials to inform them effectively large numbers of class members continued to be unaware of their entitlement to Stateprovided EPSDT services. 109 F. Supp. 2d at 590. The court found

enforcement of the decree was barred by the Eleventh Amendment, the district court entered an order requiring the officials to submit within 60 days a plan for coming into compliance with their consent decree obligations. On Respondents interlocutory appeal, the Fifth Circuit vacated the enforcement order, ruling that the district court had misconceived its power to compel compliance with its decree. The district courts cardinal error, the Fifth Circuit explained, had been in focusing on the consent decree requirements rather than determin[ing] whether an alleged violation of the consent decree would constitute, in the absence of the decree, a statutory violation of the Medicaid Act remediable under 1983. 300 F.3d at 537 (emphasis added). Without questioning the district courts conclusions that each of the decree provisions defendants were found to be violating met the requirements established in Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 525 (1986), i.e., that each (1) served to resolve a dispute within the court's subject matter jurisdiction, (2) came within the general scope of the case made by the pleadings, and (3) further[ed] the objectives of the law upon which the complaint was based, the Fifth Circuit explained that the Firefighters standards govern the entry of consent decrees and do not establish a courts jurisdiction to issue its own, different order enforcing * * * the decree. 300 F.3d at 541 (quoting Lelsz v. Kavanagh, 807 F.2d 1243, 1252 (5th Cir.), rehg en banc denied, 815 F.2d 1034, cert. dismissed, 483 U.S. 1057 (1987)).
numerous violations respecting defe ndants o bligations to children in managed care: many were not receiving required immunizations and leadpoisoning screens, see 109 id. at 623-6 4, and so me had been un able to obtain even eme rgency treatm ent for severe asthma attacks and dehydration, id. at 629. In addition, large numbers of plaintiff class members were receiving no dental care at all, id. at 602. See id. (noting result that emergency rooms were crowded with children, suffering from acute forms of dental disease that, while easily preven table, often lead to [serious] health complications).

The court further noted that Firefighters had involved a decree with a municipal government defendant, rather than State officials entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity, 300 F.3d at 543 & n.67. The Eleventh Amendment, the decision continued, is a limitation on the federal courts judicial power, one that can apply [r]egardless of what the parties agree[] to in the consent decree, id. at 542. After ruling that defendants litigation conduct did not amount to a waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity, id. at 548-514 and that federal courts inherent jurisdiction,id. at 542, is insufficient to overcome an assertion of immunity the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed that only those provisions that embody actual requirements of the federal Constitution or a federal statute could be subject of an enforcement order. See id. (citing Lelsz and Saahir v. Estelle, 47 F.3d 758 (5th Cir.1995)). The court then construed Circuit precedent to impose a further limitation. In view of the rule limiting decree enforcement to provisions that vindicate federal rights and of case law holding that not every violation of federal law is a deprivation of a right, actionable under 42 U.S.C. 1983, see, e.g., Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329 (1997); Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los Angeles, 493 U.S. 103 (1989), the Fifth Circuit announced that: Before [a] district court can remedy a violation of a provision of [a] consent decree, plaintiffs must demonstrate

The appeals court gave three reasons for declining to infer waiver: (1) that the decre e expre ssly stated * * * th at Defendants do not concede liability, 300 F.3 d at 5 49 (quoting 301); (2) that Respondents had repeated ly raised in th e district cou rt an Elev enth Am endm ent defen se to the enforcement of the decree, id., and (3) that, unlike in Watson v. Te xas, 261 F.3d 436 (5th Cir. 2001), and Lapide s v. Board of Regen ts of the University System o f Georgia , 535 U.S. 613 (2002), the officials here were sued as defendants and had not voluntarily chosen to submit * * * to the jurisdiction of the federal co urt, 300 F.3d at 550. Seeing these as sufficient reason to find no waiver, the court declined to decide the Attorney Generals State law a uthority to consen t to the decre e. Id. at 549.

that any such consent decree violation is also a violation of a federal right, i.e., by showing (1) a statutory violation of a specific provision of [a federal statute] (2) which was intended to benefit plaintiffs, (3) which is not so vague and amorphous that its enforcement would strain judicial competence, and (4) which imposes a binding obligation on the states. 300 F.3d at 543. Accordingly, the district courts order, which did not reflect this sort of particularized * * * analysis as to each alleged violation of the consent decree, id. at 542, could not stand.5 Summary of Argument This Courts precedents stand emphatically against the proposition that the Eleventh Amendment creates a class of judicial decrees (or decree provisions) that are valid as entered, but unenforceable. Whether understood as resting primarily on (1) the rule that affirmative litigation conduct, Lapides, 535 U.S. at 617, will waive an Eleventh Amendment defense or (2) the principle that * * * [w]here the court possesses jurisdiction to make a decree, it possesses the power to enforce its execution, Root v. Woolworth, 150 U.S. 401, 412 (1893); see Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 200 U.S. 273, 284 (1906), the rule must be that [i]f a federal court can validly enter a consent decree, it can surely enforce that decree. Kozlowski v. Coughlin, 871 F.2d 241, 244 (2d Cir. 1989). In addition to its inconsistency with precedent, the Fifth Circuits contrary rule is an affront to basic rule-of-law norms.
The appeals court did not reach defendants arguments that the district court had m isinterpreted the conse nt decree , see 300 F.3d at 537. The Fifth Circuit did, however, reject Respondents argument, grounded on the laterreversed district court decision in Westside Mo thers v. Haveman , 133 F. Supp. 2d 549 (E.D. M ich. 200 1), revd in relevant p art, 289 F.3d 85 2 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 618 (2002), that there is a Sp ending Clau se exception to the Ex Parte Young doctrine , 300 F.3 d at 550 . See id. (For purposes of the Supremacy Clause and Ex Parte Young, the mandates set out in Medicaid statute are more than contractual; they are federal law).
5

Not only does it relegate federal courts to hoping that parties ostensibly bound by judgments will comply with them, but officials who are dissatisfied with decrees will have scant reason to use lawful, but more burdensome, procedures for obtaining relief from judgment. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5). Indeed, the Fifth Circuits rule, which holds attacks on final judgment by parties who have disobeyed them to less stringent standards than objections to the entry of the same decree, is at odds with fundamental norms of judicial procedure. To the extent the decision below is understood to have treated the decree as invalid, i.e., construing the Eleventh Amendment to impose stringent limitations beyond the requirements of Firefighters on provisions that may lawfully be entered as part of a federal consent decree, it is equally irreconcilable with this Courts teaching. First, there is no question that the dispute resolved was within the courts subject matter jurisdiction, and this Court has settled that when officials consent, federal courts have the power to enter decrees that include obligations that spring from or relate to federal law and not just those which merely restate federal law requirements. See Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk Co. Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 378 (1992). The proposition that 1983 imposes a further, jurisdictional limitation on federal courts power to enter decrees is even more plainly mistaken. If decrees that go further than the federal law minimum are permissible, Rufo, it follows that whether or not a provision falls within the subset of federal laws that are federal rights under 1983 does not bear on a courts power. See also Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Envt, 523 U.S. 83, 89 (1998). A rule that prevents federal courts from compelling compliance with consent decree requirements that are also obligations of federal law on the ground that plaintiff would not have a 1983 right in the absence of a decree surely draws no support from Ex Parte Young. That doctrine aims to assure the supremacy of federal law, Green v. Mansour, 474 8

U.S. 64 (1985), and the Court has consistently sustained prospective relief against State officials in cases where violations of federal law are ongoing but where plaintiff would likely not have a 1983 right. E.g., Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363, 371 (2000); see also Suter v. Artist M., 503 U.S. 347, 354 n.6 (1992); Golden State Transit, 493 U.S. at 119 (Kennedy, J., dissenting). Indeed, settled principles establish that the 1983 causeof-action question is not a relevant one when enforcement of a court decree is sought. Defendants surely may waive an objection that a statute does not entitle plaintiffs to particular relief, see Swift Co. v. United States, 276 U.S. 311 (1928) (Swift I). That is what defendants typically do by entering consent decrees, see id.; Suter, 503 U.S. at 354 n.6. And plaintiffs who seek to compel compliance with an equity courts decree do not need a distinct, congressionally conferred cause of action to do so. Unfairness to litigants in Petitioners position and interference with orderly judicial administration are not the only ways in which the rules announced below fail to make[] sense. See Lapides, 535 U.S. at 620. By limiting federal courts, confronting violations of consent decree provisions, to enjoining actions that would be unlawful in the absence of a decree, 300 F.3d at 537, the decision imposes an essentially prohibitive disincentive to settle institutional reform litigation, Rufo, 502 U.S. at 389. A legal regime under which obligations that defendants stipulate to be enforceable may not be enforced and plaintiffs who make significant concessions in negotiations are no better off than if no decree had been entered is one that assures, as a practical matter, that cases against State officials will always be litigated to final judgment. While the decision below may have afforded these Respondents a welcome litigation advantage[], Lapides, 535 U.S. at 620, its premises, if endorsed, would surely constrict the range of options available to State officials facing future federal 9

lawsuits. To the extent that its limitations apply as the decision said they do [r]egardless of what the parties agreed to in the consent decree, 300 F.3d at 542, they deny officials freedom to determine that State interests would be served by agreeing to undertake judicially enforceable obligations or by not pressing a 1983 defense. But even if that extreme formulation could be discounted, the practical reality will remain: plaintiffs who otherwise could and would negotiate consent decrees on terms the State would find preferable to what litigation would offer will refrain from doing so. The legal rules imposed in the decision below are surely not necessary to advance any legitimate interests of State government. Officials are under no compulsion, see Wisconsin Dept of Corrections v. Schacht, 524 U.S. 381, 395 (1998) (Kennedy, J., concurring), to agree to settlements; to make them judicially enforceable; or to enter into them before disputed legal or factual issues are determined. In every sense, the consent decree enforcement proceeding was the result of [Respondents] voluntary act. Lapides, 535 U.S. at 620 (quoting Gunter, 200 U.S. at 284). Finally, existing rules provide a means for defendants to obtain relief even from voluntarily assumed decree obligations, when intervening events render continued compliance unexpectedly burdensome or otherwise inequitable, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5), and under this Courts precedents, such claims from official defendants are considered with special care, see Rufo. These substantial protections already in place make the appeals courts rules and the unfairness and anomaly that they would entail wholly unwarranted. ARGUMENT I. State Officials Consent To A Federal Courts Decree Waives Eleventh Amendment Objection To Its Enforcement As Petitioners Brief explains and numerous courts have decided, see, e.g., New York State Assn for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey, 596 F.2d 27, 39 (2d Cir. 1979) defendants 10

consent to a court order embodying the provisions at issue is precisely the sort of affirmative litigation conduct, Lapides, 535 U.S. at 617, that should preclude an Eleventh Amendment defense in a proceeding that seeks only prospective compliance with those obligations. In a consent decree case, the relevant litigation act, 535 U.S. at 620, is extraordinarily clear. Both parties represent to a federal court that they desire and expect that their agreement * * * will be reflected in, and be enforceable as, a judicial decree that is subject to the rules generally applicable to other judgments and decrees, Rufo, 502 U.S. at 378. Although the Fifth Circuit stressed that the officials had not voluntarily invok[ed] the federal court's jurisdiction, but * * * were sued as defendants, Respondents claim of Eleventh Amendment immunity does not relate to the initial suit which clearly fell within the Ex Parte Young jurisdiction but rather to the courts power to enforce decree provisions, which defendants had labeled mandatory [and] enforceable (302) and had asked the court to order (6) (emphasis added). See Wisconsin Hosp. Assn v Reivitz, 820 F.2d 863, 868 (7th Cir. 1987) (Posner, J.) (when decree settle[s] a genuine, noncollusive case that was within the exception to the Eleventh Amendment that Ex parte Young created enforcement proceeding does not engage the Eleventh Amendment).6 Even more than in other cases where State officials elect to participate in federal litigation, Clark v. Bernard, 108 U.S. 436, 447 (1883), the federal courts enforcement order was the direct

Although the language of the decree in this case and the conduct of Respon dents surely reinforc e the soun dness of f inding w aiver here , it is the nature of a consen t judgm ent, i.e., the parties desire and expect[ation] that it will be enfo rced by the federa l court, Rufo , 502 U.S. at 378, that warran ts treating it a s a waiver of imm unity from enforce ment. See Lapides , 535 U.S. at 623-24 (rules for inferring waiver from condu ct should be clear * * * [and] easily applied by both federal courts and the States themse lves).

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result of [Respondents] own voluntary act. Lapides, 535 U.S. at 620 (quoting Gunter, 200 U.S. at 284).7 II. The Eleventh Amendment Provides No Basis For Recognizing A Category Of Federal Court Orders That Are Valid But Not Enforceable A. The Eleventh Amendment Does Not Divest A Federal Court Of Inherent Jurisdiction To Enforce Its Orders But even if the Circuit Courts erroneous resolution of the waiver issue did not compel reversal, this Courts case law refutes the central premise of the decision below: that the Eleventh Amendment limits a federal courts jurisdiction over a proceeding seeking compliance with its decree. See Gunter. Courts by their creation [are] vested with power to impose silence, respect, and decorum in their presence, and submission to their lawful mandates, Anderson v. Dunn, 18 U.S. 204, 227 (1821); see also Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, 292 U.S. 234, 239

The Fifth Circu its other bases for finding no waiver fare no better. It can be of no moment that defendants had made Eleventh Amendment objections before or after decree entry because the act of seeking entry of the decree was patently inconsistent with maintaining that a greed-to provisions are beyo nd a fed eral courts power to order. See Lapides, 535 U.S. at 619. N or is the infer ence that d efendan ts reserved an Eleve nth Amendment defense b y declinin g to adm it liability a plausible one. Leaving aside differences betwee n imm unity and liability, Puerto Rico Aq ueduc t & Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, 506 U.S. 139, 146 (199 3), such a provision is unexceptional. Indeed, a dictionary definition of consent decree is [a] judgment entered by consent of the parties whereby the defendant agrees to stop alleged illegal activity withou t admitting guilt or wr ongdo ing. B LACK S L A W D I C T IO N A R Y 410 (6th ed.1990). The legal significance of provisions such as 301 is the opposite of what the decision below implied: they do not p reserve a b asis for cha llenging a decree, bu t rather indic ate defendants assent to a courts award of relief, as if they were liable. Compa re Hudson v. Chicago Te achers Union , 922 F.2 d 1306 (7th Cir.1991). Finally, the Fifth Circuits (inconclusive) inquiry into the Attorney Generals State law authority is precisely what Lapides indicated need no t be pursu ed. See 535 U.S. at 622-23.

12

(1934) (That a federal court of equity has jurisdiction of a bill ancillary to an original case or proceeding in the same court whether at law or in equity, to secure or preserve the fruits and advantages of a judgment or decree rendered therein, is well settled). Consent decrees are judicial acts and must be obeyed as such, Rufo, 502 U.S. at 378; United States v. Swift & Co., 286 U.S. 106, 116-17 (1932) (Swift II) (consent decree, whether right or wrong, became the judgment of the court); accord United States v. Krilich, 303 F.3d 784 (7th Cir. 2002) (consent decree, is a judicial decree that is subject to the rules generally applicable to other judgments and decrees), cert denied, 538 U.S. __ (Apr. 21, 2003); Badgley v. Santacroce, 800 F.2d 33, 38 (2d Cir. 1986) (The respect due the federal judgment is not lessened because the judgment was entered by consent). Indeed, judicial enforceability is what distinguishes consent decrees from other forms of consensual resolution. See Rufo, 502 U.S. at 378 (a decree is an agreement that the parties * * * expect will be * * * * enforceable as [] a judicial decree); Kozlowski, 871 F.2d at 245 (The judicial aspect of a consent decree derives from the imprimatur of the court, which invests the decree with the integrity of the judiciary and signifies the court's willingness to implement the solution of the parties); see generally Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375, 381 (1994) (if a courts order incorporates the terms of the settlement agreement, a breach of the agreement would be a violation of the order, and ancillary jurisdiction to enforce the agreement would therefore exist); cf. Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 113 (1992) (plaintiff who obtains consent decree prevails, for attorneys fee statute purposes, because of entitle[ment] to enforce [it] * * * against the defendant). The Fifth Circuits error was in treating the enforcement stage as a different proceeding, 300 F.3d at 541 (quoting Lelsz) in which the jurisdiction of a federal court, upon finding its decree violated, extended no further than its power to

13

compel official action in the absence of a decree, id. at 542 (emphasis added). But when an action seeks to enforce a legal duty * * * which is required of [a defendant] * * * by virtue of the judgment [the plaintiff] has already obtained, Labette County Commrs v. United States ex rel. Moulton, 112 U.S. 217, 221 (1884), the proceeding is not a new suit, in the jurisdictional sense, Riggs v. Johnson County, 73 U.S. 166, 198 (1867), but rather a proceeding ancillary to the judgment which g[ave] the jurisdiction, id.; accord Kokkonen, 511 U.S. at 378 (contrasting a proceeding that is more than just a continuation or renewal of the earlier proceeding, which would require[] its own basis for jurisdiction); Dugas v. American Surety Co., 300 U.S. 414, 428 (1937) (a federal courts jurisdiction to entertain a bill to effectuate its prior decree * * * follows that of the original suit). These jurisdictional principles apply fully where State officials are the parties bound by the decree. Thus, in Gunter, the Court expressly held that the Eleventh Amendment does not prevent a court of the United States [from] administering relief * * * in a matter ancillary to a decree rendered in a cause over which it had jurisdiction, 200 U.S. at 292. Sustaining a federal court order prohibiting South Carolina officials from undertaking to collect a tax previously enjoined as unconstitutional, Gunter explained that the right of the court to administer relief to make its decree effective is not to be measured by constitutional or statutory provisions relating to original proceedings where jurisdiction over the controversy did not obtain. 200 U.S. at 292; see also Prout v. Starr, 188 U.S. 537 (1903); Woolworth, 150 U.S. at 412 (the bill, being ancillary to the original proceeding * * * can be maintained without reference to the citizenship or residence of the parties).8
Absence of diverse citizenship, as in Woolw orth , is a defect of federal subject matter jurisdiction which, ordinarily , cannot b e waive d. Compa re
8

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This principle was reaffirmed in Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1979), which sustained against Eleventh Amendment challenge an order requiring officials to pay State funds to the prisoner-plaintiffs, as a financial penalty for defendants badfaith failure to comply with a district court order. Under Ex parte Young and Edelman v. Jordan, Hutto explained, federal courts are not reduced to issuing injunctions against state officers and hoping for compliance. Once issued, an injunction may be enforced. 437 U.S. at 691. See Reivitz, 820 F.2d at 868 (Against a state that violates a valid federal court decree the court has the power to issue any order necessary to enforce the decree, including an order to pay). While the outer limits of federal court enforcement jurisdiction may be [im]precise, Kokkonen, 511 U.S. at 379, the order here, one merely requir[ing] compliance with the existing judgment by the persons with authority to comply, Peacock v. Thomas, 516 U.S. 349, 358 (1996), arises from its undisputed core.9 Indeed, the order, which only directs defendants to propose a plan of prospective compliance with existing decree provisions, raises far less substantial Eleventh

Idaho v. Couer dAlene Tribe, 521 U.S. 261, 267 (1997) (The [Eleventh] Amendment * * * enacts a sovereign immunity from suit, rath er than a nonw aivable limit on the Federal Judiciary's subject-matter jurisdiction); United States v. Cook C ounty , 167 F.3d 381, 388-89 (7th Cir. 1999) (For most purposes it overstates the strength of sovereign immunity to analogize it to a lack of jurisdiction. Any difference betwee n the two should m ake it easier to raise a jurisdictional objection b elatedly than to raise a sovereignimmunity objection belatedly). Recent decisions r ejecting no vel theories of ancillary jurisdiction cast no doubt on Gunter or other preceden ts. On the contrary, tho se cases: concerned actions of federal courts which were conceded to have no other basis for subject matter jurisdiction, see Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. v. Henson , 123 S. Ct. 366 (2002) ; Kokkonen ; involved assertions of different remedies, see Peacock , against differen t parties, see id., whose relation to the underly ing judg ment w as tangen tial; and we re not nec essary to preservin g the fede ral courts au thority, see 516 U.S. at 360.
9

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Amendment concerns than did the decrees in Hutto or Reivitz. There is no conceivable danger here of a large or * * * unexpected monetary penalty, Hutto, 437 U.S. at 692 n.18, and there can be no contention that the relief ordered goes further than necessary to enforce the courts prior orders, id.; cf. Spallone v. United States, 493 U.S. 265 (1989).10 B. The Fifth Circuit Rule Is Anomalous And Unfair The proposition that a federal decree may be validly entered, but not be enforced, cuts against the grain of basic ruleof-law norms. See Komyatti, 96 F.3d at 962-3 (allowing officials to violate decrees is not compatible with the traditions of our people and their commitment to a rule of law). A doctrine that permitted (or required) district courts to enter agreements as ostensibly binding orders, but denied them power to compel compliance undermines the integrity of the judicial process. Vecchione, v Wohlgemuth, 558 F.2d 150, 158-9 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 943 (1977) (if sovereign immunity could be raised after entry of judgment, the judgment would be a mere advisory opinion); Cook County, 167 F.3d at 386 (rule precluding federal government from raising sovereign immunity as a basis for a collateral attack is essential if judgments are to resolve the parties disputes, rather than just set the stage for the next act); Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755, 761 (1987) (The real value of the judicial pronouncement what makes it a

Indeed, while the Fifth Circuit treated federal courts inherent power to enforce lawful decrees as entirely different from (and lesser than) the power recognized in Ex Parte Young, that unde rstanding is itself problematic. Under the Constitution, valid federal court decrees are themselves Suprem e law. See Cooper v. Aaron , 358 U.S. 1, 18-19 (1958); Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Assn., 443 U .S. 658, 6 96 (197 9); see Badgley , 800 F.2d at 38 (When the defend ants chose to c onsent to a judgmen t, * * * the re sult was a fu lly enforce able federal judgment that overrides any con flicting state law or state court ord er); see also Komyatti v. Bayh, 96 F.3d 955, 960 (7th Cir. 1996) ([A] provision in a validly-entered consent decree is an obligation on State officials to conform their conduct to federal law).

10

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proper judicial resolution of a case or controversy rather than an advisory opinion is in the settling of some dispute which affects the behavior of the defendant towards the plaintiff).11 Indeed, the Court has often stressed that even when a judicial decree is subject to substantial constitutional question, disobedience is not an option. Washington Fishing Vessel Assn., 443 U.S. at 696 (even where court orders are erroneous in some respects, all parties have an unequivocal obligation to obey them while they remain in effect); see also Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1, 18-19 (1958); Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449, 458 (1975) (The orderly and expeditious administration of justice by the courts requires that an order issued by a court with jurisdiction over the subject matter and person must be obeyed by the parties until it is reversed by orderly and proper proceedings); Walker v. Birmingham, 388 U.S. 307, 317 (1967). As a practical matter, according officials who do not comply with decrees broad rights to object to the decrees in enforcement proceedings leaves them scant incentive to pursue lawful, but more cumbersome, means for obtaining relief from judgment. See Rufo, 502 U.S. at 383, 391 (imposing on party seeking Rule 60(b)(5) modification burden of (a) showing a significant change in circumstances and (b) proposing appropriately tailored modification); Hook v Arizona Dept of Corrections, 972 F.2d 1012, 1017 (9th Cir. 1992) (rule forbidding State officials from raising Eleventh Amendment defense in enforcement proceeding is supported by policies

As Judge Easterbrook explained in Cook C ounty , allowing the United States to raise sove reign im munity in an attack o n a judg ment w ould reduce to advisory status all decisions adverse to the financial interests of the United States,167 F.3d at 38 6. See id. (describing such a regime as unpa latable [and] likely * * * unconstitutional). The conduct here goes conside rably beyond litigating a case to final judg ment, see Coo k Coun ty : Respondent officials expressly requested that the court to order them to perform the obligations they no w resist on imm unity groun ds.

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favoring the finality and binding effect of judgments and requiring the party seeking relief from a final judgment to bear the burden of modifying it).12 A rule that imposes stricter standards for a decrees enforcement than its entry suffers from two further defects. First, it operates with maximal unfairness to litigants, such as Petitioners, who, in exchange for defendants undertaking limited, but judicially enforceable, obligations, forego other potentially meritorious claims. Even worse than a ruling declining to enter a decree at the inception which leaves plaintiffs essentially in the position they occupied before pursuing settlement a rule that makes decree provisions unenforceable allow[s] the [defendant official] to avoid * * * bargained-for obligations while retaining the benefits of concessions he obtained on other issues during the negotiations. Kozlowski, 871 F.2d at 245. Finally, the Fifth Circuit rule reverses what is an almost universal rule of judicial administration: that claims of error, if entertained at all, must meet increasingly stringent standards at successively later stages of the judicial process. Although not all objections are deemed forfeited by a partys failure to raise them at the earliest possible opportunity, Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 678 (1974); Hormel v. Helvering, 312 U.S. 552 (1941), the distinction between an assertion of error on appeal and one that comes after final judgment is fundamental. See In re Factor VIII or IX Concentrate Blood Prods. Litig., 159 F.3d 1016, 1019 (7th Cir. 1998) (only an egregious want of jurisdiction will allow the judgment to be undone by someone

Although, in discussing its appellate jurisdiction, the decision below treated the district courts order as one refusing to dissolve or modify an injunction , 300 F.3d at 537 (quoting 28 U.S.C. 1292( a)(1)), Re sponde nts did not move to vacate or modify this decree.

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who, having participated in the case, cannot complain that his rights were infringed without his knowledge).13 These principles apply with special force to consent decrees. Thus, Swift I, after contrasting English practice, under which a consent decree could not be set aside by appeal * * * except in case of clerical error with the more liberal American rule, where lack of actual consent * * * fraud in its procurement, or lack of federal jurisdiction but not the merits of the cause would also be considered, 276 U.S. at 323-24, indicated that where the attack is not by appeal * * * but by a motion to vacate, filed more than four years after the entry of the decree, the scope of the inquiry may be even narrower, id. Here, Respondents did not move to vacate; they raised objections to provisions they agreed to as a defense to enforcement. Cf. id. at 327 (although alleged error concerning need for an injunction would ordinarily [be] remediable on appeal. Such an error is waived by the consent to the decree). III. The Appeals Courts Limitations On Enforceable Decrees Are Unwarranted Nor can the Fifth Circuits decision be sustained on the ground that the underlying decree was not lawful, Anderson, 18 U.S. at 227, in the sense that its provisions exceeded a federal courts power to impose. As noted above, the appeals courts decision did not question that the decree provisions in this case (1) served to resolve a dispute within the court's subject matter jurisdiction, (2) came within the general scope of the case made by the pleadings, and (3) furthered the

Although rules limiting collateral attacks do not ap ply as rigid ly to equitable decrees with prospective force, such decrees are nonetheless entitled to respect as final judgment[s], Rufo , 502 U.S. at 391, and, far from permitting issues to be raised more rea dily on colla teral challenge, Rufo makes clear that they may be reopened only to the extent that e quity requires, id. (emphasis added).

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objectives of the law upon which the complaint was based. See Firefighters, 478 U.S. at 525. Rather, the court indicated that where State officials are defendants, a consent decree provision may be enforced only if two additional requirements are satisfied: (1) the obligation violated would be a requirement of federal law (absent the decree), and (2) the violation would be actionable under 1983 as a deprivation of federal right. Although the Fifth Circuit linked these two requirements to the jurisdictional nature of the Eleventh Amendment (and the Ex Parte Young exception), limits it said apply [r]egardless of what the parties agreed to in the consent decree, neither accurately describes a limitation on a courts power to enter a decree, let alone a valid basis for disallowing enforcement of provision against a party who urged its adoption. A. State Officials May Undertake And Federal Courts, Enforce Obligations That Go Beyond Compliance With Federal Law As an example of the first restriction, the decision below held that a decree provision requiring that defendants effectively inform the class about EPSDT services, 300 F.3d at 546 (emphasis added), was unenforceable because the federal statute, 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(43)(A), mandates informing all [eligible persons] of the availability of [EPSDT] services, but does not expressly require effective conveyance of information. 300 F.3d at 546 (emphasis added). This ruling reflects a misunderstanding of federal courts equitable power. Even when State officials do not consent, courts may enjoin conduct that is not in itself unlawful. In such cases, a court order must be related to, Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717, 738 (1974), the federal law it enforces as this decree provision undeniably is but it need not be limited to a directive to obey the [statute], Rufo, 502 U.S. at 389. See also FTC v. National Lead Co., 352 U.S. 419, 430 (1957); National

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Society of Professional Engineers v. United States, 435 U.S. 679, 698 (1978); Swift, 276 U.S. at 330. And this Courts decision in Rufo a case involving a consent decree to which a State official was a party, see 502 U.S. at 372 establishes that federal court may enter a consent decree obliging an official to not only do more than the Constitution itself requires * * * [but also] more than what a court would have ordered absent the settlement. Id. at 389 (emphasis added). See also Suter, 503 U.S. at 354 n.6 (citing Rufos recognition that parties may agree to provisions in a consent decree which exceed the requirements of federal law). Informed by this understanding, Rufo announced principles to guide courts response to post-decree developments that establish the lawfulness of conduct that a decree prohibits. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5). While a significant change may warrant modification of the decree, Rufo stressed, [a] proposed modification should not strive to rewrite a consent decree so that it conforms to the constitutional floor, 502 U.S. at 391 (emphasis added).14 Under the Fifth Circuit rule, the constitutional [and statutory] floor defines the outer limit of a courts power even when State officials have not sought a modification, let alone carried their burden of showing that equity requires one.

In rejecting the gove rnment de fendants argu ments for a less demanding modification standard, Rufo explaine d that such a rule wou ld necessarily imply that the only legally enfo rceable obligation assumed by the state unde r [a] conse nt decree was that o f ultimately achieving minimal constitutional * * * standards, 502 U.S. at 390 (quoting Plyler v. Ev att, 924 F.2d 1321, 1327 (4th Cir. 1991) (emphasis in original)) a proposition the decision treated as self-ev idently erroneo us. Although Rufo involved a decree agreed to after a judicial finding of liability, Lawyer v. United States Dept of Justice, 521 U.S. 567 (199 7), makes plain that a consent decrees validity does not depend on a finding or admissio n of liability. See also Maher v. Gagne , 448 U .S. 122 (1 980).

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B. The Fifth Circuits Further Restriction, To Obligations To Which Plaintiffs Have a 1983 Right, Is Wholly Unwarranted The error of further limiting federal court decrees to those obligations to which a plaintiff is independently entitled as a matter of federal right i.e, that would be remediable under 1983 in the absence of the decree is even more plain. The only authority cited for that proposition, the Circuits prior decision in Lelsz, does not support it. Although that decision used the phrase federal right as a limitation on the reach of a consent decree, it did so to emphasize the distinction between claims (and decree provisions) that had their source in State, rather than federal law in the course of holding that only the latter were enforceable. Lelsz gave no indication that it was further incorporating the principle significant in this Courts 1983 jurisprudence that violations of federal law are not necessarily deprivations of the personal rights for which 1983 provides a cause of action.15 See, e.g., Golden State Transit; Dennis v. Higgins, 498 U.S. 439 (1991). This asserted, second limitation, like the first, cannot be squared with Rufo. To the extent that intervening judicial decisions had resolved that double-bunking was permissible under federal law, see Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979), the detainee-plaintiffs in that case could not claim a 1983 right to single-selling. See 42 U.S.C. 1983 (providing cause of action for deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured
15

The order sought to be enforced in Lelsz required State offic ials to comply with State law and had been entered before this Court decided Pennhu rst State School v. Halderman, 465 U .S. 89 (19 84). Lelsz noted that the situation would u nlikely recur, becau se (1) officials would be aware that State-law based injunctions would be unavailable in litigated cases, 807 F.2d at 1254 and (2) courts, before entering future decrees, would assure themselves, as did the d istrict court he re, of their subject matter jurisdiction, id. at 1253 n.13. Cf. Kom yatti , 96 F.3d at 961 (holding that no issue arises when State officials se ttle federal claims by prom ising to com ply with State standards).

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by the Constitution and laws) (emphasis added); cf. Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 232 (1991) (claimed violation of clearly established constitutional right is foreclosed when there is no constitutional right at all). And Suter v. Artist M. specifically explained that there was nothing inconsistent about a State officials entering into a consent decree (in a parallel proceeding) that obliged her to make reasonable efforts to maintain and reunify families, and her arguing successfully in this Court, that a statutory requirement to that effect, see 42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15), was insufficiently definite to give rise to a 1983 claim. Rather than requiring reasonable efforts, with no further definition, Suter explained, the decree had included provisions defin[ing] the standard against which those efforts are to be measured. 503 U.S. at 354 n.6. But even if these cases were not controlling, there is no principled basis for allowing an official whose conduct is violating federal law and a consent decree provision to defeat enforcement of that provision, on the ground that plaintiff could not establish a 1983 right absent the decree.16 First, although the Fifth Circuit cited Ex Parte Young as supporting this further limitation, the theory of Young is that remedies designed to end a continuing violation of federal law are necessary to vindicate the federal interest in assuring the supremacy of that law, Green 474 U.S. at 426 (emphasis added). Indeed, the opinion below elsewhere recognized that
16

To the extent that the appeals courts decision is understood to mean that a motion to enforce a court order requires a statutory c ause of ac tion, it suffers from the defect discussed supra : treating a proceeding seeking compliance with a judgment (in a case where the court has expressly retained jurisdiction) as if it were a new suit. As the precedents cited above make plain, a m otion to en force is, in substance, indistinguishable from an [equitable] bill ancillary to an original case or proceeding, Local Loan Co., 292 U .S. at 239. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 2; see also Beckett v. Air Line Pilots Assn , 995 F.2 d 280 (D .C. Cir. 1993) (explaining that decree enforcement proceedings are go verned by contract law principles).

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[f]or purposes of the Supremacy Clause and Ex Parte Young, the mandates set out in Medicaid statute are * ** federal law, 300 F.3d at 550. Consistently with these principles, this Court has repeatedly sustained judgments in cases compelling State officials prospective compliance with federal law without inquiring whether plaintiffs had a statutory cause of action (and under circumstances where precedent indicates that a 1983 claim would not lie). See, e.g., Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363, 371 (2000) (claim that state statute unconstitutionally infringed the federal foreign affairs power, violated the Foreign Commerce Clause, and was preempted by [a] federal Act); Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 380-81 (1992) (claim that state regulation was preempted by federal statute); Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, 463 U.S. 85, 96 n.14 (1983); see generally Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Serv. Commn, 535 U.S. 635, 64546 (2002) (noting Courts long record of entertaining injunction suits against state regulatory commissioners). Whether these cases establish that the Supremacy Clause creates an implied right of action for injunctive relief against state officers who are threatening to violate the federal Constitution or laws, Guaranty Natl Ins. Co. v. Gates, 916 F.2d 508, 512 (9th Cir. 1990) (citation omitted), or that plaintiffs may seek[] declaratory and equitable relief in the federal district courts through their powers under federal jurisdictional statutes, Golden State Transit, 493 U.S. at 119 (Kennedy, J., dissenting), they at least confirm that the existence vel non of a 1983 cause of action does not go to a courts power. See Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent, 510 U.S. 355, 365 (1994); Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Envt, 523 U.S. 83, 89 (1998); Air Courier Conference v. American Postal Workers Union, 498 U.S. 517, 523 n.3 (1991); Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 239 n.18 (1979). See generally Golden State Transit, 493 U.S. at 119 (Kennedy, J., dissenting), (explaining that prospective relief is available without regard to 24

whether plaintiff can show the deprivation of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by federal law) (emphasis added).17 To the extent that the Fifth Circuit held that a district court is required to determine, before enforcing a decree, whether plaintiffs would have been able to establish a statutory entitlement to relief had the case been litigated to completion, rather than settled, that is precisely the sort of question that precedent teaches should not be asked. See Rufo, 502 U.S. at 391-92 (a court should not turn aside to inquire whether some of [the provisions of the decree] * * * could have been opposed with success if the defendants had offered opposition) (quoting Swift, 286 U.S. at 116-17). Indeed, while consent decrees, like other prospective equitable judgments, may be reopened to the extent that equity requires, 502 U.S. at 391, they are otherwise subject to the rules generally applicable to other * * * decrees, meaning that objections that do not go to a courts power to render judgment may not be raised as an excuse for noncompliance with an (unmodified) final judgment. Pasadena City Bd. of Educ. v. Spangler, 427 U.S. 424, 439 (1976) (outstanding injunctive orders of courts [must] be obeyed until modified or reversed by a court having the authority to do so). The Fifth Circuit rule, which treats the cause of action question as one that must be adjudicated in plaintiffs favor before a party bound by the judgment may be compelled to comply, respects none of these principles.18
17

Cf. Antrican v. Odom , 290 F.3d 178, 191(4th Cir. 2002) (declining to consider 1983 issues raised on interlocutory appeal because they were not inextricab ly intertwin ed with North Carolinas Eleventh Amendment immu nity claim, nor [was their consideration]necessary to ensure meaningful review of the * * * im munity question.) (citations omitted). It bears emphasis that the Fifth Circuit treated its rules as governing [r]egardless of wha t the parties ag reed to in the consent decree, 300 F.3d at 542. Thus, State officials are without power to waive the objection that
18

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IV. The Fifth Circuits Rules Would Seriously And Unnecessarily Undermine Important Public Interests A. The Decision Makes Settlements With State Officials A Practical Impossibility Palpable unfairness to parties to existing consent decrees and incompatibility with orderly judicial process, see supra, are not the only demerits of the rules announced below. It is hard to imagine a more potent disincentive to settle institutional reform litigation, Rufo, 503 U.S. at 389, than the legal regime established in the Fifth Circuits decision. It is axiomatic that parties willingness to enter agreements will be affected by courts readiness to enforce them, see A. KRONMAN & R. POSNER, THE ECONOMICS OF CONTRACT LAW 4 (1979); United States v. ITT Continental Baking, 420 U.S. 223, 235-37 (1975) (consent decrees have attributes of both contracts and of judicial decrees), and this Court has recognized that the reasons why consent decrees have become widely used as devices to facilitate settlement, Firefighters, 478 U.S. at 523 n.13, relate primarily to enforcement
a plaintiff does not hav e a 1983 c ause of action even in a case where prospective c o m pliance with federal law is all that is sough t. That rule is facially incompatible with Suter, see supra , which recognized that an official could waive a valid 1983 defense, and im poses a more stringent rule than Clark v. Bernard , which e stablishes tha t sovereig n imm unity is a personal privilege which [a State] may waive at pleasure, 108 U.S. at 447. Indeed, while the Court has treated Sovereign immunity defenses somewhat differently than other ob jections a llowing th em to be raised for the first time on app eal, see Ede lman, 415 U.S. at 678 the costs of even that limited exception hav e been ac know ledged, see Schac ht, 524 U.S. at 395 (Kenn edy, J., con curring) ; Ku v. Tennessee, 332 F.3d 431 (6th Cir . 2003), and there is no precedent for allowing an objection (such as a 1983 defense) that does n ot sound in sovereign immunity, let alone subject matter jurisdiction, see Coo k Coun ty , to be raised as a defense to non-compliance. Cf. Hutto, 437 U.S. at 696 (A federal courts interest in orderly, expeditious proceedings justifies [it] in treating the state just as any other litigant) (quoting Fairmo nt Cream ery Co. v. M innesota , 275 U .S. 70, 77 (1927) ).

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advantages, see id. (cataloguing advantages of decrees, relative to contractual settlements). But the rule announced by the Fifth Circuit is especially drastic. If federal courts, confronting violations of consent decree provisions, were limited to enjoining actions that would be unlawful in the absence of a decree,300 F.3d at 537, plaintiffs who negotiate decrees will essentially be giv[ing] up something they might have won had they proceeded with the litigation, United States v. Armour, 402 U.S., 673, 681-82 (1971) (emphasis added) in exchange for nothing. The disadvantages of this regime would not be borne exclusively by federal court plaintiffs. As Armour and Rufo acknowledge, settlements of cases like this one can equally serve the interests of defendants, Evans v Jeff D., 475 U.S. 717, 733 (1986) (quoting Marek v Chesny, 473 U.S. 1, 10 (1985). As noted above, the Fifth Circuit decision can be read to impose limitations that apply regardless of what the parties agree to meaning that defendants have little power to waive defenses or enter decrees. Cf. Montgomery v. Maryland, 266 F.3d 334, 337 (4th Cir. 2001) (respect for State sovereignty is undermined when a federal court imposes on a state a legal argument that the state * * * affirmatively withdrew), cert. granted and judgment vacated on other grounds, 535 U.S. 1075 (2002). But even if that implication could safely be ignored, there can be no doubt that, as a practical matter, a rule that offers plaintiffs no incentive to settle will operate to constrict the options available to State officials. A regime that effectively requires adversary adjudication in every case limits defendants ability to determine that particular cases are not worth the time, expense, and inevitable risk of litigat[ing], Armour, 402 U.S. at 681, and there are strong reason to expect that a compromise that is carefully negotiated by the parties, id., will be more reflective of and sensitive to State policy priorities than would be an injunction imposed at the end of litigation. 27

Finally, the benefits of consensual resolution of disputes like this one extend beyond the parties before the court. Longstanding policies favor [s]ettlements of matters in litigation, or in dispute, without recourse to litigation, St. Louis Min. & Mill. Co. v. Montana Mining Co., 171 U.S. 650, 656 (1898); Marek, 473 U.S. at 5; Williams v. First Natl Bank, 216 U.S. 582, 595 (1910) (Compromises of disputed claims are favored by the courts); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(a)(5); Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(c)(7); Fed. R. Civ. P. 68. Not only are judicial and litigation resources channeled toward disputes for which there is no mutually acceptable resolution, but State residents can expect that solutions arrived at cooperatively will promise[] to work more effectively and more quickly, see Griffin v. Prince Edward County Sch. Bd., 377 U.S. 218, 234 (1964), than those reached after protracted or rancorous adversarial proceedings.19 B. The Fifth Circuits Rules Are Not Necessary To Protect Any Legitimate State Interest Although the decision below undeniably enabled Respondents to avoid unwanted obligations, it should be clear that no novel rules are needed to protect legitimate State interests. Cf. Lapides, 535 U.S. at 620 (noting that States actual preference * * * might * * * favor selective use of immunity to achieve litigation advantages). Rather, settled principles governing consent decree entry and enforcement afford officials ample protection against uninvited court intrusion and inequitable decrees.

See Maimon Schwarzschild, Public Law by Private B argain: Title VII Consent Decrees and the Fairness of Negotiated Institutional Reform, 1984 D UKE L.J. 887, 899 (A remedy designed to reform the workings of a large org anization is most effective w hen the o rganizatio n coop erates in carrying out the remedy, and the human beings who make up an institution are more apt to cooperate in carrying out a negotiated scheme than in complying with an order imposed fr om ab ove by a court); see also Komy atti , 96 F.3d at 961.

19

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Officials are under no compulsion, Schacht, 524 U.S. at 395 (Kennedy, J., concurring), to agree to settlements; to make them enforceable in federal court, see Firefighters, 478 U.S. at 523 (the choice of an enforcement scheme whether to rely on contractual remedies or to have an agreement entered as a consent decree is itself made voluntarily by the parties); Kokkonen, or to enter into them before disputed legal or factual issues are determined. Cf. Jeff D., 475 U.S. at 727 (The options available to the District Court were essentially the same as those available to respondents: it could have accepted the proposed settlement; it could have rejected the proposal and postponed the trial to see if a different settlement could be achieved; or it could have decided to try the case). Moreover, defendants may enter decrees that preserve the right to appeal, Hudson v. Chicago Teachers Union, 922 F.2d 1306 (7th Cir.1991); United States v. $92,422.57, 307 F.3d 137 (3rd Cir. 2002); cf. Fed. R. Crim P. 11(a)(2). Finally, even after officials give their consent to a judgment, there is no dispute but that a sound judicial discretion may call for the modification of the terms of an injunctive decree if the circumstances, whether of law or fact, obtaining at the time of its issuance have changed, or new ones have since arisen, Railway Employees v. Wright, 364 U.S. 642 (1961). And in considering modifications, see Rufo, 502 U.S. at 392 and even in enforcing decrees against recalcitrant defendants, Spallone; Hutto federal courts are obliged to show special respect for State prerogatives. In view of the legal rules already in place, the effects of the Fifth Circuit rule are uniformly undesirable: relieving defendants of freely undertaken obligations that they could not show to be inequitable (and permitting them this relief, despite their having disobeyed a decree), depriving plaintiffs of bargained-for remedies, relegating courts to hoping for compliance with their decrees, and disabling parties plaintiffs and officials alike who might otherwise be able to resolve disputes consensually from being able to do so. 29

Conclusion For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeals should be reversed. Respectfully submitted, DAVID T. GOLDBERG Counsel of Record 99 Hudson Street, 8th Fl. New York, NY 10013 (212) 334-8813

Attorney for Amici Curiae

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APPENDIX

Descriptions of Amici Curiae AARP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization for people 50 and over, with 35 million members, of which 45% are working. We provide information and resources and advocate on legislation, consumer and legal issues for our members and other citizens, including low-income Medicaid beneficiaries such as those represented by appellants. Some AARP members are themselves beneficiaries of Medicaid, and their interests are directly jeopardized by the Fifth Circuit's decision. Over the years AARP has supported legislative amendments to Medicaid and other government programs, based upon the belief that its members and other citizens have both enforceable rights and access to the courts to present their claims for redress of violations of those rights. AARP has also participated in numerous court cases supporting Medicaid beneficiaries whose claims are based on legal principles disregarded by the Fifth Circuit. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a national non-profit membership organization of children and adults with disabilities, their family members, and their supporters. AAPDs mission is to promote political and economic empowerment of the more than 56 million Americans with disabilities. AAPD was founded on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and works to ensure effective enforcement and implementation of civil rights laws and other laws affecting individuals with disabilities. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with affiliates or chapters in every state, and approximately 400,000 members dedicated to preserving the principles of liberty and equality A-1

embodied in the Constitution and this Nation's civil rights laws. Since its founding in 1920, the ACLU has maintained an active docket of federal court litigation as one means of achieving its civil liberties goals. Today, the ACLU and its affiliates are participants in literally scores of consent decrees around the country involving such disparate issues as education, foster care, police misconduct, voting rights, and prison conditions. The ability to enforce current and future consent decrees against state defendants is therefore a matter of substantial importance to the ACLU and its clients. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded in 1913 to advance good will and mutual understanding among Americans of all creeds and races, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike. It has long been ADL's critical mission to combat all types of prejudice, discriminatory treatment, and hate. ADL has supported the enactment by Congress and the vigorous enforcement by the Executive Branch of our country's principal federal civil rights laws, and has consistently made its voice heard in the courts as an advocate fighting to guarantee equal treatment of all persons. ADL has filed amicus briefs in this Court in numerous cases urging the unconstitutionality or illegality of discriminatory practices or laws, or defending government enactments designed to prevent or punish discrimination and hate. These include many of the Court's landmark cases in the area of civil rights and equal protection. In particular, ADL has supported Congress's broad authority under the Fourteenth Amendment enforcement power to remedy constitutional deprivations caused by States, and Congress's authority to abrogate state sovereign immunity in cases of clear civil rights violations. The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national public interest organization founded in 1972 to A-2

advocate for the rights of individuals with mental disabilities. The Center has engaged in litigation, administrative advocacy, and public education to promote equal opportunities for individuals with mental disabilities. The Center has successfully resolved much of its litigation through the use of consent decrees with state officials, and enforcement of these decrees has been pivotal to achieving compliance with legal mandates and improving the lives of individuals with mental disabilities. See, e.g. Wyatt v. Sawyer (M.D. Ala) (class action raising constitutional and statutory challenges to conditions, policies and practices in Alabama's mental health and mental retardation facilities); R.C. v. Nachman, (M.D. Ala.) (class action raising constitutional and statutory challenges to deficiencies in child welfare system in Alabama); New York State Assn for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey (E.D.N.Y.) (class action challenging conditions at Willowbrook Developmental Center). Childrens Rights is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to achieve reform in this nation's child welfare systems on behalf of abused and neglected children. For over thirty years, starting as the Childrens Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and since 1995 as an independent organization, Children's Rights has championed the legal rights of children involved with child welfare systems through research, education and class-action litigation to improve government performance and accountability, and ensure better outcomes for those children. Children's Rights most often achieves the reforms it seeks by entering into negotiated federal consent decrees with government officials and then seeking enforcement of those decrees as necessary. Childrens Rights is currently monitoring compliance with five federal consent decrees requiring State reforms - Jeanine B. v. McCallum (E.D. Wis. 2002); Brian A. v. Sundquist (D. Tenn. A-3

2001); G.L. v. Stangler (W.D. Mo. 2001); Joseph A. v. Ingram (D.N.M. 1998); Juan F. v. Roland (D. Conn. 1991) - and has three other federal suits in active litigation, one of which is in settlement negotiations with state officials in New Jersey, Charlie and Nadine H. v. McGreevey (D.N.J.). The National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS) is the membership organization for the nationwide system of protection and advocacy (P&A) agencies. Located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the federal territories, P&As are mandated under various federal statutes to provide legal representation and related advocacy services on behalf of all persons with disabilities in a variety of settings. The P&A system comprises the nations largest provider of legally based advocacy services for persons with disabilities. NAPAS facilitates coordination of P&A activities and provides training and technical assistance to the P&A network. This case is of particular interest to NAPAS because many P&As are involved in the ongoing enforcement of consent decrees, which significantly impact the lives of hundreds of their clients. The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is a non-profit law firm that represents people who cannot afford the high cost of health care. This includes representing working poor people, people with disabilities, and children in actions to obtain access to needed health care services. As such, NHeLP works extensively with the Medicaid program. In just the last five years, NHeLP has represented Medicaid beneficiaries in a number of federal court cases, including in Maine (Risinger v. Concannon), Louisiana (Chisholm v. Hood), and West Virginia (Benjamin H.v. Ohl). In each of these actions, the plaintiffs' complaint asked the court to order injunctive relief requiring the state Medicaid officials to comply prospectively with specific A-4

provisions of the Medicaid Act. Rather than engage in lengthy and costly litigation of the issues, the parties mutually agreed to enter into consent orders that set forth specific actions the state officials would take to bring the Medicaid program into compliance with the federal law. NHeLP has a significant interest in the case before the Court. The ruling in this case will affect the clients in these cases, and it will influence our future representation of individuals who are being harmed by ongoing state violations of federal laws. NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW Legal Defense) is a leading national non-profit civil rights organization that, for over thirty years, has used the power of law to define and defend womens rights. As part of its efforts to achieve gender equality, NOW Legal Defense has participated in a number of lawsuits against government officials alleging violations of federal law that were resolved through consent decrees. NOW Legal Defense has an interest in ensuring the enforceability of those decrees and in preserving its ability to resolve ongoing and future lawsuits against government officials consensually. In addition, a major goal of NOW Legal Defense is to ensure full compliance with federal civil rights laws, including by state government entities. In support of that goal, NOW Legal Defense has frequently appeared as counsel and as amicus before this Court. The Fifth Circuits decision in this case, if allowed to stand, would seriously undermine that goal.

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