Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, 513 U.S. 30, 31 (1994)

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60

HESS v. PORT AUTHORITY TRANS-HUDSON CORPORATION O'Connor, J., dissenting

State Hospital v. Scanlon, supra, at 238 ("[T]he significance of this Amendment 'lies in its affirmation that the fundamental principle of sovereign immunity limits the grant of judicial authority in Art. III' of the Constitution") (citation omitted).

The Court's assertion that the driving concern of the Eleventh Amendment is protection of state treasuries, see ante, at 48-49, is belied by the text of the Amendment itself. The Eleventh Amendment bars federal jurisdiction over "any suit in law or equity" against the States. As we recognized in Cory v. White, 457 U. S. 85, 91 (1982), the Eleventh Amendment "by its terms" clearly extends beyond actions seeking money damages. "It would be a novel proposition indeed that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar a suit to enjoin the State itself simply because no money judgment is sought." Id., at 90. While it may be clear that Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 419 (1793), a money damages action, gave initial impetus to the effort to amend the Constitution, it is equally clear that the product of that effort, the Eleventh Amendment itself, extends far beyond the Chisholm facts. Recognizing this, we have long held that the Eleventh Amendment bars suits against States and state entities regardless of the nature of relief requested. See Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., supra, at 145-146; Cory, supra, at 90-91; Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U. S. 781, 782 (1978).

The Court is entirely right, however, to suggest that the Eleventh Amendment confers immunity over entities whose liabilities are funded by state taxpayer dollars. If a State were vulnerable at any time to retroactive damages awards in federal court, its ability to set its own agenda, to control its own internal machinery, and to plan for the future—all essential perquisites of sovereignty—would be grievously impaired. I have no quarrel at all with the many cases cited by the Court for the proposition that if an entity's bills will be footed by the State, the Eleventh Amendment clearly pre-

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