Whether Ex parte Young establishes a novel and unprecedented judge-made cause of action, separate from § 1983, that can be used through an official capacity action to obtain prospective relief against a municipality whose local Sheriff faithfully executes facially valid state court orders

QUESTION PRESENTED In Los Angeles County v. Humphries, 562 U.S. 29 (2010), this Court held that the Monell “policy or custom” requirement applies to § 1983 suits for prospective relief against municipalities, thereby overruling prior Ninth Circuit authority. Here, Respondents Eva Moore and Brooke Shaw brought an official-capacity action against Petitioner, the King County Sheriff, to enjoin her from executing facially valid state court orders mandating restoration of property. When the Sheriff averred that mere execution of a court order fails the Monell test, Respondents countered that Monell did not apply because they were seeking prospective relief under Ex parte Young — a doctrine designed to avoid Eleventh Amendment immunity through official-capacity actions against state officials. The Ninth Circuit — sidestepping both Humphries and Monell — held that § 1983 did not apply, thereby allowing Respondents to proceed under “the judge-made cause of action recognized in Ex parte Young.” App. 17. The Ninth Circuit also held that the Sheriffs status as a local or state official was immaterial. Jd. at 18. The question presented is: Whether Ex parte Young establishes a novel and unprecedented judge-made cause of action, separate from § 1983, that can be used through an official capacity action to obtain prospective relief against a municipality whose local Sheriff faithfully executes facially valid state court orders. ii PARTIES Petitioner Mitzi Johanknecht' appears before this court in her official capacity as the elected Sheriff of King County, Washington. King County is a municipality with a land mass larger than Delaware or Rhode Island and a population of almost 2.2 million. Its largest cities are Seattle and Bellevue. Respondents Eva Moore and Brooke Shaw are individuals who reside in King County, Washington. They appear both individually and on behalf of a putative class of similarly situated individuals. Cherrelle and Nina Davis were also before the Ninth Circuit, but were dismissed for lack of standing and are no longer part of this action. ' Sheriff John Urquhart was the Defendant-Appellee before the District Court and the Ninth Circuit. While the case was on appeal, Sheriff Johanknecht replaced Sheriff Urquhart, which caused her to be “automatically substituted as a party” in this official capacity action under FRAP 43(c)(2).