Suever

We are called upon to decide the extent to which the federal courts are open or closed by the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution to persons who claim a state has improperly taken their property under a state’s escheat system. The answer, as in many legal questions: “it depends.” It depends on whether the property at issue is an individual’s property or a state’s property, and whether the relief requested is prospective or retrospective. ■

Appellants Agnes Suever, et al. (collectively, “the class”) appeal the district court’s order granting the motion of Appellees Kathleen Connell, Richard Chivaro, Steve Westly, and George DeLeon (collectively, “the Controller”) to dismiss the class action without leave to amend. The class’s complaint alleges that, to mitigate the State’s mounting debt, the Controller improperly seized and retained the class’s property under the California Unclaimed Property Law (UPL), Cal.Civ.Proc.Code § 1500, et seq. The district court held that the Eleventh Amendment barred the class’s complaint in its entirety because the complaint alleged only that the class was “entitled to monetary damages [as compensation from State funds] for [state officials’] past…