Cite as: 527 U. S. 666 (1999)
Breyer, J., dissenting
sovereign immunity once played in helping to assure the States that their political independence would remain even after joining the Union no longer holds center stage. See Nevada v. Hall, 440 U. S. 410, 418 (1979). They do so when a federal court's ability to enforce its judgment against a State is no longer a major concern. See The Federalist No. 81, p. 488 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961) (A. Hamilton). And they do so without adequate legal support grounded in either history or practical need. To the contrary, by making that doctrine immune from congressional Article I modification, the Court makes it more difficult for Congress to decentralize governmental decisionmaking and to provide individual citizens, or local communities, with a variety of enforcement powers. By diminishing congressional flexibility to do so, the Court makes it somewhat more difficult to satisfy modern federalism's more important liberty-protecting needs. In this sense, it is counterproductive.
III
I do not know whether the State has engaged in false advertising or unfair competition as College Savings Bank alleges. But this case was dismissed at the threshold. Congress has clearly said that College Savings Bank may bring a Lanham Act suit in these circumstances. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, I believe Congress has the constitutional power so to provide. I would therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
705
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