Cite as: 535 U. S. 743 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
adjudication is equally as invalid today, whether the forum be a state court, a federal court, or a federal administrative agency." 243 F. 3d 165, 173 (2001). Reviewing the "precise nature" of the procedures employed by the FMC for resolving private complaints, the Court of Appeals concluded that the proceeding "walks, talks, and squawks very much like a lawsuit" and that "[i]ts placement within the Executive Branch cannot blind us to the fact that the proceeding is truly an adjudication." Id., at 174. The Court of Appeals therefore held that because the SCSPA is an arm of the State of South Carolina,6 sovereign immunity precluded the FMC from adjudicating Maritime Services' complaint, and remanded the case with instructions that it be dismissed. Id., at 179.
We granted the FMC's petition for certiorari, 534 U. S. 971 (2001), and now affirm.
II
Dual sovereignty is a defining feature of our Nation's constitutional blueprint. See Gregory v. Ashcroft, 501 U. S. 452, 457 (1991). States, upon ratification of the Constitution, did not consent to become mere appendages of the Federal Government. Rather, they entered the Union "with their sovereignty intact." Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U. S. 775, 779 (1991). An integral component of that "residuary and inviolable sovereignty," The Federalist No. 39, p. 245 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961) (J. Madison), retained by
6 The SCSPA was created by the State of South Carolina "as an instrumentality of the State," for, among other purposes, "develop[ing] and improv[ing] the harbors or seaports of Charleston, Georgetown and Port Royal for the handling of water-borne commerce from and to any part of [South Carolina] and other states and foreign countries." S. C. Code Ann. § 54-3-130 (1992). The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that the SCSPA is protected by South Carolina's sovereign immunity because it is an arm of the State, see, e. g., Ristow v. South Carolina Ports Authority, 58 F. 3d 1051 (1995), and no party to this case contests that determination.
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