Immunity as an Essential Element of Statehood Alden v. Maine, 199 S. Ct. 2240 (1999)
In: Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Jg. 35 (2000), S. 257
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Zugriff:
Introduction The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. -- U.S. Constitution, Amendment XI Although the Constitution grants broad powers to Congress, our federalism requires that Congress treat the States in a manner consistent with their status as residuary sovereigns and joint participants in the governance of the Nation. -- Justice Kennedy, in Alden v. Maine 1 On its face, the Eleventh Amendment appears to constitute a narrow jurisdictional bar, preventing federal court assertions of diversity jurisdiction when a state is the named defendant in a suit. 2 Nonetheless, in a series of decisions over the past century, the Supreme Court has gradually extended the scope of the Amendment; today, it stands for the broad proposition that states enjoy sovereign immunity from lawsuits initiated by private citizens seeking monetary damages. The Court's decision last Term in Alden v. Maine is the most recent manifestation of this proposition. 3 In Alden , the Court declared that Congress cannot abrogate state sovereign immunity from federal claims in state courts by creating private causes of action pursuant to its Article I powers, such as its interstate commerce authority. In so deciding, the Court did not rely on the Eleventh Amendment alone, but also on a robust vision of federalism believed to be inherent in a constitutional structure ...
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Immunity as an Essential Element of Statehood Alden v. Maine, 199 S. Ct. 2240 (1999)
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Parasharami, Archis |
Zeitschrift: | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Jg. 35 (2000), S. 257 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2000 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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