Eleventh Amendment to the United
States Constitution
United States of America
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The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment
XI) to the United States Constitution was
passed by the 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 U.S. Supreme Court
decision in Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419
(1793).
Text
“ The Judicial power of the United
States shall not be construed to ex-
tend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States by Citizens
”
Amendment XI in the National Archives
of another State, or by Citizens or
Subjects of any Foreign State.
Summary
See also: Sovereign immunity#State sover-
eign immunity
The amendment was adopted following the
Supreme Court ruling in Chisholm v. Geor-
gia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793). In Chisholm, the
Court ruled that federal courts had the au-
thority to hear cases in law and equity
brought by private citizens against states and
that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity
from suits made by citizens of other states.
Thus, the amendment clarified Article III,
Section 2 of the Constitution, which gave di-
versity jurisdiction to the judiciary to hear
cases "between a state and citizens of anoth-
er state."
Although the amendment’s text does not
explicitly include suits brought by a citizen
against his own state, the Supreme Court
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Eleventh Amendment to the United States
Constitution
1
ruled, in Hans v. Lo