| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Congress (in 1972 amendments to the Civil Rights Act) authorized federal courts to award money damages against states and for private individuals, where there has been employment discrimination on the basis of sex, alienage, religion, color, or race. |
| Posture: | Suit in the district court alleging sex discrimination with respect to their state retirement benefits. District court finds for the plaintiffs for prospective relief, but denies money damages. On appeal, 2nd Cir Ct. App. says that under Edelman, congress didn't have the power to do this, in the first place. Appeal. |
| Issue: | Does 11A sovereign immunity bar an act under 14A § 5 to grant money damages as part of the enforcement of 14A rights? |
| Holding: | No. Reversed. |
| Rule: | 14A trumps 11A, essentially. |
| Reasoning: | The whole point of 14A was to limit state authority-- it's a limitation on state power. § 5 (authorizing enforcement) is part of that. |
| Dicta: | The civil war amendments provide for intrusions into the states'
legislative, judicial, and executive autonomy.
Brennan, concurring in judgment: the states surrendered this immunity in the plan of the Convention [i.e., the opposite of Hans]. |