Production & Leasing, Ltd., a Nevada Corporation v. Hotel Conquistador, Inc., a Nevada Corporation, Dba Tropicana Hotel and Country Club

Appellant seeks civil damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 ,1985(3) and 18 U.S.C. § 1964 (c), from, among others, the Nevada Gaming Commission, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and named members past and present of each entity. The district court granted the state defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We affirm.

Federal courts are without jurisdiction to entertain suits seeking civil damages against a state. Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 337 , 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1143 , 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979). “Where the state is in fact the real party in interest this bar cannot be circumvented by naming an individual state official or state agency as a nominal defendant.” Ronwin v. Shapiro, 657 F.2d 1071, 1073 (9th Cir.1981). And while a state may waive its Eleventh Amendment immunity by explicitly consenting to the suit, Nevada has not so consented. O’Connor v. Nevada, 686 F.2d 749, 750 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 103 S.Ct. 491 , 74 L.Ed.2d 633 (1982).

The district court correctly held that both the Commission and the Board enjoy Eleventh Amendment immunity in these proceedings. Accord Rosenthal v. Nevada, 514…