740
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
of action under the FMLA is a restricted one: The damages recoverable are strictly defined and measured by actual monetary losses, §§ 2617(a)(1)(A)(i)-(iii), and the accrual period for backpay is limited by the Act's 2-year statute of limitations (extended to three years only for willful violations), §§ 2617(c)(1) and (2).
For the above reasons, we conclude that § 2612(a)(1)(C) is congruent and proportional to its remedial object, and can "be understood as responsive to, or designed to prevent, unconstitutional behavior." City of Boerne, supra, at 532.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is therefore
Affirmed.
Justice Souter, with whom Justice Ginsburg and Justice Breyer join, concurring.
Even on this Court's view of the scope of congressional power under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, see Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U. S. 356 (2001); Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U. S. 62 (2000); Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Ed. Expense Bd. v. College Savings Bank, 527 U. S. 627 (1999), the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is undoubtedly valid legislation, and application of the Act to the States is constitutional; the same conclusions follow a fortiori from my own understanding of § 5, see Garrett, supra, at 376 (Breyer, J., dissenting); Kimel, supra, at 92 (Stevens, J., dissenting); Florida Prepaid, supra, at 648 (Stevens, J., dissenting); see also Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U. S. 641, 650-651 (1966). I join the Court's opinion here without conceding the dissenting positions just cited or the dissenting views expressed in Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U. S. 44, 100 (1996) (Souter, J., dissenting).
Justice Stevens, concurring in the judgment.
Because I have never been convinced that an Act of Congress can amend the Constitution and because I am uncer-
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