Here at Convention of States Action, it's usually all about Article V.
But the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution -- which was ratified on February 7, 1795 -- addresses and attempts to clarify Article III, and came about following a notable Supreme Court case known as Chisholm v. Georgia.
The Eleventh Amendment is straightforward in form and function. The language is simple: "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."
The aim of the amendment was to solidify the sovereign immunity of the several states by protecting them against certain lawsuits in the federal courts that were established by Article III.
Unlike other amendments, however, the Eleventh targeted a specific decision by the Supreme Court -- the aforementioned Chisholm v. Georgia.
That case, decided in 1792, originated when Alexander Chisholm, representing the estate of a citizen of South Carolina, sued the state of Georgia in an attempt to reclaim a Revolutionary War debt that Georgia had incurred. In response, the state of Georgia claimed state sovereignty and simply refused to appear in court.
By a vote of 4-1, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts had jurisdiction to entertain lawsuits between states and private citizens -- states were, as a result, subject to judicial review at the federal level and did not enjoy sovereign immunity.
The lone vote against the majority in Chisholm was cast by Justice James Iredell of North Carolina. His dissenting opinion was extraordinarily significant in that it largely informed the language of the Eleventh Amendment. Iredell relied upon British common law and found precedents for state sovereignty. Iredell argued that consent was required from defendant-states in order for such cases to proceed.
The 3rd Congress -- which met at the then capital city of Philadelphia -- overwhelmingly and favorably responded to Iredell's dissent by proposing the Eleventh Amendment. The Senate approved of the amendment by a vote of 23-2, and the House followed suit by a vote of 81-9. The amendment hit the constitutional requirement for ratification when North Carolina approved on February 7, 1795.
Nearly three years following the amendment's ratification, the Supreme Court ruled in Hollingsworth v. Virginia that all pending actions that had been brought under the majority opinion in Chisholm were to be dismissed.
Through the years, the Court has made several rulings regarding the Eleventh Amendment and its application, including holding that it applies to all federal suits brought by private parties against states, and outlining exceptions to sovereign immunity when Congress acts according to its powers in Article I. Federal courts are permitted to enjoin officials of the several states from breaking federal law.
Succinct and unique in its origin, the Eleventh Amendment is an important milestone in the protection of sovereign immunity of the states and the jurisdictional concept of consent...all because Georgia refused to show up in court and one Supreme Court justice wrote a dissent.
Who says one man -- or one state -- can't make a difference?
To join the fight to call an Article V convention to discuss and propose amendments that would add necessary structural limitations on the federal government -- perhaps even including the judiciary -- sign the petition below:
