The Eleventh Amendment is a vital element of federal jurisdiction that “go[es] to the very heart of [the] federal system and affect[s] the allocation of power between the United States and the several states.” 1 It prevents federal courts from construing their judicial power to allow states to be sued by citizens of another state or by foreign states or their citizens or subjects. The Eleventh Amendment was adopted in response to the Supreme Court’s 1793 decision in Chisholm v. Georgia2 in which the court allowed a suit by a citizen of South Carolina to proceed against the State of Georgia. The Eleventh Amendment resolved uncertainty over the reach of federal judicial power, which had arisen during the Constitution’s ratification.

Footnotes

1

C. Wright, The Law of Federal Courts § 48 at 286 (4th ed. 1983).

2

Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419 (1793).