Edelman v. Jordan

Edelman v. Jordan
Argued December 12, 1973
Decided March 25, 1974
Full case nameJoel Edelman, Director, Department of Public Aid of Illinois v. John Jordan
Citations415 U.S. 651 (more)
94 S. Ct. 1347; 39 L. Ed. 2d 662; 1974 U.S. LEXIS 115
Case history
PriorJordan v. Weaver, 472 F.2d 985 (7th Cir. 1973); cert. granted, 412 U.S. 937 (1973).
SubsequentRehearing denied, 416 U.S. 1000 (1974); on remand, Jordan v. Trainor, 405 F. Supp. 802 (N.D. Ill. 1975), reversed, 551 F.2d 152 (7th Cir. 1977), on rehearing en banc, 563 F.2d 873 (7th Cir. 1977), affirmed sub nom., Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332 (1979).
Holding
Because of the sovereign immunity recognized in the Eleventh Amendment, a federal court could not order a state to pay back funds that had unconstitutionally withheld from parties to whom they had been due.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
MajorityRehnquist, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Powell
DissentDouglas
DissentBrennan
DissentMarshall, joined by Blackmun
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XI; 42 U.S.C. § 1983

Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that the sovereign immunity recognized in the Eleventh Amendment prevented a federal court from ordering a state from paying back funds that had been unconstitutionally withheld from parties to whom they had been due.[1]

  1. ^ Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974).