Professional Documents
Culture Documents
No. 12-1480
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore.
Benson Everett Legg, Senior District
Judge. (1:07-cv-01414-BEL)
Argued:
Decided:
consider
whether
the
jurisdictional
shield
of
the
of
the
Fund)
Maryland
Baltimore,
filed
Department
Maryland,
this
of
and
co-plaintiffs
garnishment
Health
Carpenters Pension
and
proceeding
Mental
(collectively
against
Hygiene
the
(the
reverse
with
and
remand
instructions
to
quash
the
writ
of
garnishment.
I.
The
instant
litigation
originates
from
an
Employee
the
district
court
entered
$16,140.64
default
action
District
Maryland.
of
in
the
federal
After
district
failed
court
attempts
to
for
the
locate
any
assets owned by Tao, the Fund discovered that Taos CEO had
contracted
with
under
trade
the
the
Department
name
to
Pharoah
perform
Building
construction
and
work
Construction.
Department
moved
to
J.A. 41.
quash
the
writ
on
grounds
of
In a preliminary
immunity
did
not
apply
because
by
providing
for
policy
did
not
foreclose
the
garnishment
final
ruling
on
the
action
because
it
motion
in
The court
writ,
but
garnishment
on
action
different
was
not
grounds.
a
suit
It
concluded
against
that
state
the
entity,
procedural
sense,
in
substance
it
was
not
because
the
J.A. 99.
Accordingly, the
this
interlocutory
order
inasmuch
as
it
involves
the
Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U.S. 139, 144-46 (1993).
II.
A.
We review the denial of sovereign immunity de novo.
S.C.
Wildlife Fedn v. Limehouse, 549 F.3d 324, 332 (4th Cir. 2008).
[T]he States immunity from suit is a fundamental aspect
of
the
sovereignty
ratification
of
the
which
the
States
Constitution.
enjoyed
Alden,
527
before
U.S.
at
the
713.
Florida,
517
U.S.
44,
54
(1996),
it
extends
beyond
the
process
U.S.
58.
at
judicial
state.
In
action
of
Thus,
must
judicial
we
tribunals,
consider
fairly
be
here
deemed
Seminole
whether
suit
Tribe,
the
517
federal
against
the
case
testing
the
Supreme
Courts
jurisdiction
to
We
407
(1821).
The
Court
has
scarcely
elaborated
Accordingly, we
See In re NVR,
against
to
consent.
which
State
of
sovereign
being
immunity
haled
into
protects[:]
court
without
the
its
substantive
demand[s]
something
inquiry
[from
asks
the
whether
state]
by
the
the
proceeding
institution
of
and
[t]he
indication
that
demand
a
for
federal
money
judicial
also
Coeur
dAlene
from
Tribe,
state
proceeding
is
is
strong
indeed
U.S.
at
277
([W]hen
the
the
state
interest . . . .).
is
the
Where
real,
relief
substantial
is
premised
party
on
in
federal
of
Civil
Procedure
69
to
execute
their
legal
judgment
against Tao.
proceedings.
conventional
suit.
The
garnishment
proceeding
commences
time
provided
by
Rule
2-321--a
period
which
coincides
with
matter
shall
proceed
as
if
it
were
an
original
action
Md. R. 2-645(g).
in
the
underlying
action.
Mayor
&
City
Council
of
Baltimore v. Utica Mut. Ins. Co., 802 A.2d 1070, 1083 (Md. Ct.
Spec. App. 2002).
established
that
is,
in
essence,
suit
by
the
debtor against the garnishee for the use and benefit of the
attaching creditor, and that the rights of the creditor against
the garnishee cannot rise above those of the debtor.
Peninsula
Ins. Co. v. Houser, 238 A.2d 95, 97 (Md. 1968) (emphasis added).
Perhaps most importantly, a garnishee who fails to file an
answer to the writ risks default judgment.
10
was
present
in
Federal
Maritime
When a similar
Commission,
the
Funds
claim
that
the
Department
has
admitted
its
from
federal
courts.).
jurisdiction
on
law,
but
simply
is
the
mere
It
state,
thereby
the
jurisdiction
imposition
offending
its
of
of
federal
dignity
as
See
Fed. Mar. Commn, 535 U.S. at 769; Alden, 527 U.S. at 715.
This
Specialists
(Automatic
Inc.,
Sprinkler
53
F.3d
believes
11
181,
that
182
(7th
sovereign
Cir.
1995)
immunity
is
inapplicable
because
it
is
trying
to
collect
money
that
the
ice.).
Accordingly, we conclude that this garnishment action is a
suit
in
the
procedural
sense.
garnishee,
the
adversarial
The
posture
state
of
the
is
the
action
named
demands
also
satisfies
find
the
that
the
substantive
underlying
criteria
of
sovereign
has
enjoyed
garnishment
suit
action
because
it
immunity
from
suits
to
attach
its
indirect
government
effort
in
to
collect
proceeding
to
debt
which
allegedly
the
owed
government
by
the
has
not
consented.).
As early as 1846, the Supreme Court rejected efforts by
creditors to garnish the wages of navy seamen from the federal
12
treasury.
acknowledged
sovereign
that
the
immunity
to
disbursements
prevent
the
were
owed,
disruption
The Court
yet
on
applied
government
Id.
sovereign
is
immune
from
garnishment,
but
confronted
the
Housing
Administrator
to
sue
or
be
sued.
In
that
authorization,
Burr,
309
U.S.
at
244,
the
Court
concluded:
Clearly the words sue and be sued in their normal
connotation embrace all civil process incident to the
commencement or continuance of legal proceedings.
Garnishment and attachment commonly are part and
parcel of the process, provided by statute, for the
collection
of
debts.
In
Michigan
a
writ
of
garnishment is a civil process at law, in the nature
of an equitable attachment.
But however it may be
denominated, whether legal or equitable, and whenever
it may be available, whether prior to or after final
judgment, garnishment is a well-known remedy available
to suitors.
Id. at 245-46 (emphasis added).
our
own.
If
waiver
from
13
includes
post-judgment
precedent
creditors
Treasury.
from
has
confirmed
attaching
or
that
sovereign
garnishing
immunity
funds
in
the
(1999); see Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. U.S. Postal Serv., 467
U.S. 512, 516-17 (1984) ([U]nless waived, sovereign immunity
prevents
the
creditor . . . from
judicial
order
requiring
employees salary.). 5
when
we
noted
that
the
collecting
United
States
debt
to
through
garnishee
the
needed
to
legislatively
annul
586 F.2d 1061, 1063 (4th Cir. 1977) (Indeed, it appears that
the
purpose
and
effect
of
42
U.S.C.
659
is
to
waive
the
14
But
in
the
sense
that
they
are
all
allocated
for
some
15
proceeding in rem.
through
seizure
of
property
owned
by
the
State.
it
treasury.
is
ultimately
Accordingly,
seeking
the
recovery
Funds
from
the
post-judgment
Maryland
garnishment
III.
As a matter of procedure and substance, the garnishment
proceeding
we
consider
here
is
Amendment.
16
suit
under
the
Eleventh
immunity.
17