Arizona Students' Ass'n v. Arizona Bd. of Regents, No. 13-16639 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseASA filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the Board, alleging that the Board modified its policies to retaliate against the ASA's exercise of its First Amendment free speech rights. The ASA alleged that the Board's retaliatory policy change caused it harm by chilling students’ political speech and depriving the ASA of its income. The district court dismissed the complaint without leave to amend. The court concluded that the Eleventh Amendment bars any claim by the ASA for retrospective relief, including money damages, against the Board. The court concluded, however, that the district court erred when it failed to apply Ex Parte Young to the ASA’s claim of ongoing First Amendment retaliation, and its request for prospective injunctive and declaratory relief. In this case, the ASA properly alleged a First Amendment retaliation claim, and it identified the Board's changes to its fee-collection policies as the sources of ongoing violations of federal law within the meaning of Young and its progeny. The court also concluded that the district court erred when it dismissed the suit with prejudice on futility grounds. In this case, the ASA adequately and plainly pleaded a plausible claim for First Amendment retaliation on the basis that the Board deprived it of a valuable government benefit. The collection and remittance of funds is a valuable government benefit, and a change in policy undertaken for retaliatory purposes that results in the deprivation of those funds implicates the First Amendment. Finally, the district court abused its discretion when it failed to grant the ASA leave to amend its complaint to conform with the requirements of Young. The court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal of a complaint brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the Arizona Students’ Association against the Arizona Board of Regents alleging First Amendment retaliation in connection with the Regents’ decision to suspend its collection and remittance of the Arizona Students’ Association fees and then to modify its fee collection policies. The panel agreed with the district court that the Eleventh Amendment barred any claim by the Students’ Association for retrospective relief, including money damages, against the Board of Regents. The panel held, however, that the Students’ Association’s claim for prospective injunctive relief and related declaratory relief was not barred by sovereign immunity, provided such relief was sought against individual members of the Board. The panel held that the district court abused its discretion when it failed to grant the Students’ Association leave to amend its complaint to conform with the requirements of Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). The panel directed the district court, on remand, to afford the Students’ Association a reasonable opportunity to file an amended complaint. The panel held that the Students’ Association adequately alleged that it had engaged in the kinds of core political ARIZ. STUDENTS’ ASS’N V. ARIZ. BD. OF REGENTS 3 speech that trigger the First Amendment’s highest levels of protection. The panel stated that the Board of Regents had no affirmative obligation to collect or remit the Students’ Association fees, but having done so for fifteen years at no cost, the Board of Regents could not deprive the Students’ Association of the benefit of its fee collection and remittance services in retaliation for the Students’ Association’s exercise of its First Amendment rights. The panel held that the collection and remittance of funds is a valuable government benefit, and a change in policy undertaken for retaliatory purposes that results in the deprivation of those funds implicates the First Amendment.
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