You Might Just Have to Wait: Interpreting State Action Immunity and the Ability to Appeal Following the Ninth Circuit's Decision in SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project

Abstract

On June 12, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District that the doctrine of state action immunity confers immunity from liability, and therefore a court ruling granting or denying state action immunity may not be immediately appealed. In concluding this, the Ninth Circuit joined the Fourth and Sixth Circuits in opposition to the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, which held that state action immunity confers immunity from suit and may be immediately appealed. The interpretation of state action immunity thus directly affects whether a party may immediately appeal a court’s ruling on state action immunity. This Comment argues that state action immunity only grants immunity from liability and thus is not immediately appealable, following the decision of the Ninth Circuit.