Rights, Remedies, and the Impact of State Sovereign Immunity

Christopher Shortell

Description

The Supreme Court's recent spate of state sovereign immunity rulings have protected states from lawsuits based on federal legislation as diverse as disabilities law, age discrimination, patent and trademark law, and labor standards. But does the doctrine of state sovereign immunity increase state authority? Does it undermine federal antidiscrimination statutes? Is it an effective means to revive a more robust version of federalism, shifting the balance of power toward states and away from the federal government, and if so, what are the costs and implications of such an approach? This book explores these questions through engaging historical case studies and traces the impact of state sovereign immunity on both plaintiffs and states. Demonstrating that the doctrine's primary effect is felt most keenly by the weakest and most politically unpopular individuals, Christopher Shortell's findings challenge arguments from both proponents and opponents of state sovereign immunity.

List of Tables
Preface

1. Understanding Immunity Beyond the Courts

Part 1: Setting the Stage: Development of a Doctrine

2. The Doctrine of State Sovereign Immunity

Part 2: Understanding the Impact: A Look Back

3. The Dawn of State Sovereign Immunity

4. Debt Repudiation and Backlash in the 1840s

5. Post–Civil War Debts and the Exercise of Immunity

Part 3: Ghosts of Cases Past: State Sovereign Immunity Today

6. Sovereign Immunity in the Rehnquist and Roberts Eras

7. Conclusion 

Appendix
Notes
References
Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• Central government
• Central
• États-Unis
• National
• Constitution

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791478028
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Rights, Remedies, and the Impact of State Sovereign Immunity

SUNY series in American Constitutionalism Robert J. Spitzer, Editor

Rights, Remedies, and the Impact of State Sovereign Immunity

Christopher Shortell

S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Cover photo: iStockphoto / Geoff Hardy

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2008 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shortell, Christopher, 1975– Rights, remedies, and the impact of state sovereign immunity / [Christopher Shortell]. p. cm. — (Suny series in American constitutionalism) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–7914–7507–2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. State rights—United States. 2. Government liability—United States— States. I. Title.

KF4600.S56 2008 342.73’042—dc22

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For my father, Robert Shortell

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List of Tables

Preface

Contents

Chapter 1. Understanding Immunity Beyond the Courts

Part 1: Setting the Stage: Development of a Doctrine

Chapter 2. The Doctrine of State Sovereign Immunity

Part 2: Understanding the Impact: A Look Back

Chapter 3. The Dawn of State Sovereign Immunity

Chapter 4. Debt Repudiation and Backlash in the 1840s

Chapter 5. Post–Civil War Debts and the Exercise of Immunity

Part 3: Ghosts of Cases Past: State Sovereign Immunity Today

Chapter 6. Sovereign Immunity in the Rehnquist and Roberts Eras

Chapter 7. Conclusion

Notes

Cases Cited

References

Index

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Effects of Plaintiffs,

Tables

Resources, Political Support for And Political Support for Issue

Debt Held By States in 1789

State Debts After Assumption

Stock Prices of American Stocks in January 1847

Average Prices of State Securities 1872–1879

Plaintiff’s Resources and Political Support

Effects Of Resources, Political Support For Plaintiffs, And Political Support For Issue

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