A hole in the sovereign immunity defense in New York

New York State Defendants in civil rights cases regularly raise 11th Amendment and/or sovereign immunity defense.

Yet, the 11th Amendment does not contain a bar for citizens of a state to sue their own state,  see the text of the 11th Amendment 

 

and its discussion in Alden v Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999).

The 11th Amendment clearly bars only lawsuits commenced "by citizens of another state", not of the same state, and courts have no power to change the 11th Amendment by incorrectly reading it.

As to sovereign immunity that courts "found" in the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1983, while it is definitely not there, sovereign immunity was WAIVED by the State of New York in 1929 through a statutory enactment, the Court of Claims Act.

Thus, my humble opinion as a legal expert on civil rights law is that neither 11th Amendment, nor sovereign immunity applies on behalf of civil rights defendants in New York.