Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress on March 4, 1794, and was ratified on February 7, 1795. This Amendment deals with each State's sovereign immunity from being sued in federal court by someone of another state or country. This Amendment was adopted in response to, and in order to overrule, the United States Supreme Court decision in "Chisholm v. Georgia", ussc|2|419|1793.

Text

ummary

The Amendment was adopted following the United States Supreme Court's ruling in "Chisholm v. Georgia", ussc|2|419|1793. 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 from suits made by citizens of other states. Thus, the Amendment clarified of the Constitution, which gave diversity jurisdiction to the judiciary to hear cases "between a state and citizens of another state."

Although the Amendment's text does not explicitly include suits brought by a citizen against his "own" state, the Supreme Court held, in "Hans v. Louisiana", ussc|134|1|1890, that the Amendment reflects a broader principle of sovereign immunity. As Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for a five Justice majority, stated in "Alden v. Maine", ussc|527|706|1999:

Writing for four dissenting Justices in "Alden", Justice David Souter 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 the states are not insulated from suits by individuals by either the Eleventh Amendment in particular, or the Constitution in general. [ [http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-436.ZD.html Dissenting opinion in "Alden v. Maine"] ]

Although, the Eleventh Amendment immunizes non-consenting states from suit for money damages or equitable relief, federal courts may enjoin state officials from violating federal law under "Ex parte Young", ussc|209|123|1908. Furthermore, in "Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer", ussc|427|445|1976, the Supreme Court held that the Congress, under its enforcement power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, may abrogate state immunity from suit. Also, in "Central Virginia Community College v. Katz" ussc|546|356|2006, the Court held that the Congress could do the same regarding bankruptcy cases by way of Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the Constitution.

Proposal and ratification

The Congress proposed the Eleventh Amendment on March 4, 1794. [cite web|url=http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html|title=Ratification of Constitutional Amendments|accessmonthday=Feb 24|accessyear=2007|last=Mount|first=Steve|year=2007|month=Jan] The following states ratified the amendment:
# 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 South Carolina (December 4, 1797).

References

External links

* [http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html#11 National Archives: Eleventh Amendment]
* [http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt11toc_user.html CRS Annotated Constitution: Eleventh Amendment]