Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

Eleventh Amendment To the United States Constitution

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Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) to the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
was passed by the Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on February 7, 1795. This Amendment deals with each State's

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in common law jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law. Generally speaking it is the doctrine that the monarch or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit or criminal law; hence the saying, the king can do no wrong....
from being sued in federal court by someone of another state or country.

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Encyclopedia

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) to the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

United States Congress

U.S. state

Sovereign immunity

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
decision in Chisholm v. Georgia
Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia, Case citation , is considered by many to be the first Supreme Court of the United States case of great significance and impact....
, .

Text

Summary

The Amendment was adopted following the United States Supreme Court's

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
ruling in Chisholm v. Georgia
Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia, Case citation , is considered by many to be the first Supreme Court of the United States case of great significance and impact....
, . In Chisholm, the Court ruled that federal courts had the authority to hear cases in law and equity against states by private citizens, and that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in common law jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law. Generally speaking it is the doctrine that the monarch or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit or criminal law; hence the saying, the king can do no wrong....
from suits made by citizens of other states. Thus, the Amendment clarified Article III, Section 2

Article Three of the United States Constitution

Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the Federal government of the United States. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of the United States along with lower federal courts established pursuant to legislation by United States Congress....
of the Constitution, which gave diversity jurisdiction

Diversity jurisdiction

In United States law, diversity jurisdiction is a concept used in civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a U.S. United States district court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the parties are "diverse" in citizenship, which generally indicates that they are citizens of different U.S....
to the judiciary to hear cases "between a state and citizens of another state."

Although the Amendment's text does not explicit

Explicit

Explicit can mean:* very specific, clear, or detailed* containing material that might be deemed offensive or graphic, e.g. sexually explicit material...
ly include suits brought by a citizen against his own state, the Supreme Court ruled, in Hans v. Louisiana
Hans v. Louisiana

Hans v. Louisiana, Case citation , was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States determining that the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the citizen of a U.S....
, , that the Amendment reflects a broader principle of sovereign immunity. As Justice

Associate Justice

Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth of Nations countries....
Anthony Kennedy

Anthony Kennedy

Anthony McLeod Kennedy has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1988....
, writing for a five Justice majority, stated in Alden v. Maine
Alden v. Maine

Alden v. Maine, Case citation , was a United States Supreme Court case which held that Article One of the U.S. Constitution did not give the United States Congress the power to abrogation doctrine the sovereign immunity of the states and thereby allow state citizens to sue their states in the respective state courts....
, :

Writing for four dissenting Justices in Alden, Justice David Souter

David Souter

David Hackett Souter has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States of the United States since 1990....
said the states surrendered their sovereign immunity when they ratified the Constitution. The dissenters read the Amendment's text as reflecting only a narrow form of sovereign immunity, limiting diversity jurisdiction of the federal courts and saying that the states are not insulated from suits by individuals by either the Eleventh Amendment in particular or the Constitution in general.

Although, the Eleventh Amendment immunizes non-consenting states from suit for money damages or equitable relief, federal courts may enjoin

Injunction

An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order, whereby a party is required to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. The party that fails to adhere to the injunction faces civil or criminal penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions for failing to follow the court's order....
state officials from violating federal law under Ex parte Young
Ex parte Young

Ex parte Young, Case citation , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that allowed suits in federal courts against officials acting on behalf of states of the union to proceed despite the State's sovereign immunity, when the State acted unconstitutionally....
, . Furthermore, in Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer
Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer

Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, Case citation , was a Supreme Court of the United States decision that determined that the United States Congress has the power to abrogation doctrine the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution sovereign immunity of the U.S....
, , the Supreme Court ruled that the Congress, under its enforcement power

Congressional power of enforcement

A Congressional power of enforcement is included in a number of amendments to the United States Constitution. The language "The United States Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation" is used, with slight variations, in Amendments Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendm...
under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the post-American Civil War Reconstruction Amendments that was first intended to secure the rights of former Slavery in the United States....
, may abrogate

Abrogation doctrine

The Abrogation doctrine is a United States Constitution doctrine expounding when and how the United States Congress may waive a state's sovereign immunity and subject it to lawsuits to which the state has not consented ....
state immunity from suit. Also, in Central Virginia Community College v. Katz
Central Virginia Community College v. Katz

Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, Case citation , is a United States Supreme Court case holding that the Bankruptcy in the United States of the Constitution Abrogation doctrine state sovereign immunity....
, the Court ruled the Congress could do the same regarding bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against a debtor in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed or initiate a restructuring....
cases by way of Article I, Section 8, Clause 4

Article One of the United States Constitution

Article One of the United States Constitution describes the powers of the legislature of the Federal government of the United States, known as United States Congress, which includes the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate....
of the Constitution.

Proposal and ratification

The Eleventh Amendment was proposed by the Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified by the following states:

New York (March 27, 1794)
Rhode Island (March 31, 1794)
Connecticut (May 8, 1794)
New Hampshire (June 16, 1794)
Massachusetts (June 26, 1794)
Vermont (November 9, 1794)
Virginia (November 18, 1794)
Georgia (November 29, 1794)
Kentucky (December 7, 1794)
Maryland (December 26, 1794)
Delaware (January 23, 1795)
North Carolina (February 7, 1795)

Ratification was completed on February 7, 1795.

The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following state:

South Carolina (December 4, 1797).

The following states did not ratify the amendment:

New Jersey
Pennsylvania

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

Text

Summary

Proposal and ratification

External links