Cite as: 506 U. S. 139 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
tity, Biard and Catlin, not Nixon and Mitchell, are the relevant precedent for determining whether PRASA's claim is subject to interlocutory appeal.
If indeed the interests underlying our decisions permitting immediate appeal of claims of absolute or qualified immunity do not apply to a State or state entity's objection to federal jurisdiction on Eleventh Amendment grounds, what then is driving the Court to hold that PRASA's claim under the Eleventh Amendment is subject to immediate appeal? The Court tells us, ante, at 146: "[The] ultimate justification is the importance of ensuring that the States' dignitary interests can be fully vindicated." Whereas a private litigant must suffer through litigation in a federal tribunal despite his claim that the court lacks jurisdiction, e. g., Biard and Catlin, a State or state entity must be protected from the "indignity" of having to present its case—as to both the court's jurisdiction and the underlying merits—in the neutral forum of a federal district court.
I find that rationale to be embarrassingly insufficient. The mandate of § 1291 that appellate jurisdiction be limited to "final decisions of the district courts" is not predicated upon "mer[e] technical conceptions of 'finality,' " Catlin, 324 U. S., at 233, but serves important interests concerning the fair and efficient administration of justice. The "final decision" rule preserves the independence of the trial judge and conserves the judicial resources that are necessarily expended by piecemeal appeals. Moreover, and of particular relevance to this case, it serves an important "fairness" purpose by preventing "the obstruction to just claims that would come from permitting the harassment and cost of a succession of separate appeals from the various rulings to which a litigation may give rise . . . ." Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U. S. 368, 374 (1981) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Sacrificing those interests in the name of preserving the freedom and independence that government officials need to carry out their official du-
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