What is the Eleventh Amendment?
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1795, establishes state sovereign immunity by restricting the federal judicial power from hearing suits against a state by citizens of another state or foreign nations.
It was adopted specifically to overturn the Supreme Court’s controversial 1793 decision in Chisholm v. Georgia, which had allowed such lawsuits to proceed.
Key Interpretations and Exceptions
- Sovereign Immunity: The Supreme Court has interpreted the amendment broadly to bar most federal suits against states by their own citizens, a principle extended to state courts in Alden v. Maine (1999).
- Congressional Abrogation: Congress can sue states or allow suits against them if it clearly intends to abrogate immunity under its powers in the Fourteenth Amendment or Article I’s Bankruptcy Clause.
- Ex Parte Young Doctrine: Federal courts can enjoin state officials from violating federal law, treating the officials as acting outside their official capacity rather than as the state itself.
- Waiver: A state waives its immunity if it voluntarily consents to be sued or removes a case from state to federal court.
The amendment’s text reads: "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."
What specific case did the 11th Amendment overturn?
The Eleventh Amendment specifically overturned the 1793 Supreme Court decision in Chisholm v. Georgia.
In this case, the Court ruled that federal courts had jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit brought by a citizen of one state (South Carolina) against another state (Georgia) without the state's consent. This decision sparked immediate backlash from states fearing federal overreach and loss of sovereignty, leading Congress to propose the Eleventh Amendment just two days later. The amendment was ratified in 1795, effectively nullifying the Chisholm ruling by establishing that states cannot be sued in federal court by citizens of other states or foreign nations without their consent.
Did the Supreme Court rule on
state sovereignty before Chisholm?
No, the Supreme Court did not rule on the specific issue of state sovereign immunity before Chisholm v. Georgia (1793).
Chisholm was the first case in which the Court directly addressed whether a state could be sued in federal court by a citizen of another state without its consent. The 4–1 decision held that such suits were permissible under Article III, a ruling that prompted the immediate adoption of the Eleventh Amendment.
While there were earlier cases involving states as parties, such as Georgia v. Brailsford (1792), those cases did not raise or decide the constitutional question of state immunity. In Georgia v. Brailsford, the state of Georgia appeared as a plaintiff suing to recover a debt, so the issue of whether a state could be sued as a defendant without its consent did not arise. Similarly, in Farquhar v. Georgia (1791), a lower federal circuit court dismissed a suit against Georgia, but the Supreme Court did not review that decision until it became part of the Chisholm case itself.
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Saturday, July 25, 2026, 6:27 PM