Fifth Circuit Upholds Section 504's Waiver of Sovereign Immunity

Resolving issues left over from its en banc opinion in Pace v. Bogalusa City School Board earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit, again sitting en banc, has upheld the waiver of state sovereign immunity in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act against a "relatedness" challenge. The court also held that the state officials who had authority to accept federal funds necessarily had authority to accept the waiver of sovereign immunity that went with those funds, regardless of whether state law gave them express authority to waive sovereign immunity. The case is Miller v. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and the opinion is here.