| Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer | ||||||||||||
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| Argued April 20 – 21, 1976 Decided June 28, 1976 |
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| Holding | ||||||||||||
| The Fourteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to override a State's Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity for the purpose of enforcing civil rights on the States. The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first The Eleventh Amendment ( Amendment XI) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U | ||||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||||
| Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens |
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| Case opinions | ||||||||||||
| Majority by: Rehnquist Joined by: Burger, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell Concurrence by: Brennan Concurrence by: Stevens |
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| Laws applied | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Const. amends. XI, XIV | ||||||||||||
Fitzpatrick v. Warren Earl Burger ( September 17 1907 – June 25 1995) was Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986 William Joseph Brennan Jr ( April 25, 1906 &ndash July 24, 1997) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Potter Stewart ( January 23 1915 &ndash December 7 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Byron Raymond White ( June 8, 1917 &ndash April 15, 2002) won fame both as a football Running back and as an associate justice of Thurgood Marshall ( July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American Jurist and the first African American Harry Andrew Blackmun ( November 12, 1908 &ndash March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Lewis Franklin Powell Jr ( September 19, 1907 &ndash August 25, 1998) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1 1924 – September 3 2005 was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure who served as an Associate Justice John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Eleventh Amendment ( Amendment XI) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445 (1976), was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the U.S. Congress has the power to abrogate the Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity of the states, if this is done pursuant to its Fourteenth Amendment power to enforce upon the states the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past Court cases either in special series of books called reporters Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The Abrogation doctrine is a constitutional law doctrine expounding when and how the Congress may waive a state's Sovereign immunity and subject it to lawsuits The Eleventh Amendment ( Amendment XI) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in Common law Jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first
Contents |
Facts
In 1972, Congress amended Title VII to allow individuals to sue state governments for money damages for discrimination based on race, color, religion , sex, national origin. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Origins The bill was introduced by President John F Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11 1963, in which he asked for legislation "giving Monetary damages, in civil law, refers to compensation given to an injured party by a liable party Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is The plaintiffs, male retirees sued the state of Connecticut for sex discrimination against them in its retirement policies. A plaintiff ( Π in Legal shorthand) also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a Lawsuit Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Connecticut invoked its Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity, and the District Court, and Court of Appeals both allowed only injunctive relief, denying monetary recovery (although the Court of Appeals permitted attorney's fees). An injunction is an Equitable remedy in the form of a Court order, whereby a party is required to do or interact with in certain ways all right or to refrain from Attorney fees (note that the use of the word 'attorney' connotes lawyers broadly solicitors and barristers are the costs of legal representation that an attorney's client or a party Both of those courts pointed to Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974), a recent United States Supreme Court case which had held that the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a federal court from ordering a U. Edelman v Jordan, 415 US 651 (1974 was a United States Supreme Court case that held that because of the Sovereign immunity recognized in Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past Court cases either in special series of books called reporters Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States S. state to pay money to an individual wronged by the state. The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court
Issue
Can Congress abrogate state sovereign immunity under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Result
The Court, in an opinion by then-Justice William Rehnquist, distinguished previous cases where individuals had attempted to sue the states for money damages (or the equivalent) — including Edelman v. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1 1924 – September 3 2005 was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure who served as an Associate Justice Jordan — because those cases had not involved an express provision by Congress permitting such a lawsuit. The Court ruled that Congress has the power under the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate sovereign immunity of states, because the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted specifically to limit the power of the states, with the purpose of enforcing civil rights guarantees against them.
See also
External links
- ^
- Brennan's opinion concurring in the judgment on Findlaw.com (427 U.S. 445, 457)
- Stevens's opinion concurring in the judgment on Findlaw.com (427 U.S. 445, 458)