Cite as: 527 U. S. 627 (1999)
Stevens, J., dissenting
the States chose not to testify in opposition to the abrogation of their immunity.17
The statute that the Court invalidates today was only one of several "clear statements" that Congress enacted in response to the decision in Atascadero State Hospital v. Scan-lon, 473 U. S. 234 (1985).18 In each of those clarifications Congress was fully justified in assuming that it had ample authority to abrogate sovereign immunity defenses to federal claims, an authority that the Court squarely upheld in Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 491 U. S. 1 (1989). It was that holding—not just the "plurality opinion," see ante, at 636—that was overruled in Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U. S. 44 (1996). The full reach of that case's dramatic expansion of the judge-made doctrine of sovereign immunity is unpredictable; its dimensions are defined only by the present majority's perception of constitutional penumbras rather than constitutional text. See id., at 54 (acknowl-edging " 'we have understood the Eleventh Amendment to stand not so much for what it says' " (citation omitted)). Until this expansive and judicially crafted protection of States' rights runs its course, I shall continue to register my agreement with the views expressed in the Seminole dissents and in the scholarly commentary on that case.
I respectfully dissent.
17 H. R. Rep. No. 101-960, p. 7 (1990) ("The Subcommittee invited State attorneys general and representatives of State universities to testify, but none made themselves available for the hearing").
18 See, e. g., 42 U. S. C. § 12202 (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990); 11 U. S. C. § 106(a) (Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994); 29 U. S. C. § 2617(a)(2) (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993); 15 U. S. C. § 1125(a) (Trademark Remedy Clarification Act); 20 U. S. C. § 1403(a) (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act); 17 U. S. C. § 511 (Copyright Remedy Clarification Act).
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