50
Opinion of the Court
the participating governments to meet its sizable operating deficits. See id., at 225-227. As the Morris court concluded: "[W]here an agency is so structured that, as a practical matter, if the agency is to survive, a judgment must expend itself against state treasuries, common sense and the rationale of the eleventh amendment require that sovereign immunity attach to the agency." Id., at 227.20 There is no such requirement where the agency is structured, as the Port Authority is, to be self-sustaining. Cf. Royal Caribbean Corp. v. Puerto Rico Ports Authority, 973 F. 2d 8, 10-11 (CA1 1992) (Breyer, C. J.) (rejecting Eleventh Amendment immunity plea, despite Commonwealth's control over agency's executives, planning, and administration, where agency did not depend on Commonwealth financing for its income and covered its own expenses, including judgments against it).
PATH maintains that the Port Authority's private funding and financial independence should be assessed differently. Operating profitably, the Port Authority dedicates at least some of its surplus to public projects which the States themselves might otherwise finance. As an example, PATH notes a program under which the Port Authority purchases buses and then leases or transfers them without charge to public and private transportation entities in both States. See N. J. Stat. Ann. §§ 32:2-23.27 to 32:2-23.42 (West 1990); N. Y. Unconsol. Laws §§ 7201-7217 (McKinney Supp. 1994); 1993 Annual Financial Report 66. A judgment against the Port Authority, PATH contends, by reducing the Authority's surplus available to fund such projects, produces an effect equivalent to the impact of a judgment directly against the State. It follows, PATH suggests, that distinguishing the
20 The decision in Morris is compatible with our approach. See supra, at 43-44. Thus, we establish no "per se rule that the Eleventh Amendment never applies when States act in concert." Post, at 56 (O'Connor, J., dissenting).
Page: Index Previous 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007