Alden v. Maine

Alden v. Maine
Argued March 31, 1999
Decided June 23, 1999
Full case nameAlden et al. v. Maine
Citations527 U.S. 706 (more)
119 S. Ct. 2240; 144 L. Ed. 2d 636
Case history
PriorCertiorari to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
Holding
Article I of the United States Constitution does not provide Congress with the ability to subject nonconsenting states to private suits for damages in its own courts.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
MajorityKennedy, joined by Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Thomas
DissentSouter, joined by Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer
Laws applied
U.S. Const. arts. I, § 8, III, § 2
U.S. Const. amend. XI

Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States about whether the United States Congress may use its Article I powers to abrogate a state's sovereign immunity from suits in its own courts, thereby allowing citizens to sue a state in state court without the state's consent.