Patricia Cotton v. Agnes M. Mansour

ENGEL, Chief Judge.

The issue in this appeal is whether the eleventh amendment bars a suit in federal court by a food stamp recipient against the Director of the Michigan Department of Social Services (MDSS) to recover food stamp benefits allegedly wrongfully withheld by defendant in violation of federal law. Normally the food stamp program is fully funded by the federal government except that administrative costs are shared between the federal and state governments. It is by no means certain, however, that liability for the food stamp benefits withheld can be passed on to the federal…