Page:Alabama v. North Carolina, 560 U.S. (2010) slip opinion.pdf/27

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Preliminary Report 5. But he recommended denying North Carolina's motion to dismiss "at this point in the proceedings." Ibid.

The Special Master relied upon our decision in Arizona v. California, 460 U. S. 605 (1983), which held that the Eleventh Amendment did not bar the participation of several Indian Tribes in an original action concerning the allocation of rights to the waters of the Colorado River. The United States had already intervened, in its capacity as trustee for several Indian Tribes; but the Tribes moved to intervene as well, and the States opposed. We granted the Tribes' motion, stating that the States do not enjoy sovereign immunity against the United States, and "[t]he Tribes do not seek to bring new claims or issues against the States, but only ask leave to participate in an adjudication of their vital water rights that was commenced by the United States." Id., at 614. Thus, "our judicial power over the controversy is not enlarged by granting leave to intervene, and the States' sovereign immunity protected by the Eleventh Amendment is not compromised." Ibid. Relying on this holding, the Special Master held that sovereign immunity does not bar the Commission's suit, so long as the Commission asserts the same claims and seeks the same relief as the other plaintiffs. Whether that is so, he said, "cannot be resolved without further factual and legal development[s]," Preliminary Report 6, and so North Carolina is free to renew its motion at a later point, id., at 13–14. See Second Report 45–48.

Assuming (as the Special Master did) that the Commis­sion's claims against North Carolina implicate sovereign immunity, we agree with his disposition. North Carolina contends that making application of the Constitution's waiver of sovereign immunity turn upon whether a nonsovereign party seeks to expand the relief sought is