Alaska Cargo Transport, Inc. v. Alaska Railroad Corporation Frank Turpin Marty Keale Richard Knapp Denny Robertson Laurie Gray Arnold Polanchek

Appellant Alaska Cargo Transport, Inc. (“Alaska Cargo”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its complaint with prejudice as to federal claims and without prejudice as to state claims. The court held that appellee Alaska Railroad Corp. (“ARRC”) is immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment. We have jurisdiction over the timely filed appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). We affirm.

I. Facts

ARRC does not dispute the district court’s recitation of the facts and summary of the allegations in Alaska Cargo’s second amended complaint:

Alaska Cargo Transp., Inc. v. Alaska R.R., 834 F.Supp. 1216, 1218-19 (D.Aaska 1991) (footnotes omitted).

II. Discussion

A. Eleventh Amendment immunity

The Eleventh Amendment provides that “[t]he Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.” U.S. Const, amend. XI. Courts have interpreted it to bar suits in federal court against non-consenting states brought either by citizens of that state or another state. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 662-63 , 94…