Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer
Supreme Court of the United States Official seal of the Supreme Court of the United States File links The following pages link to this file: Marbury v. ...
Argued Tuesday-Wednesday April 20-21, 1976 Decided Monday, June 28, 1976
Full case name: Fitzpatrick et al. v. Bitzer, Chairman, State Employees' Retirement Commission et al. (75-251) consolidated with Bitzer, Chairman, State Employees' Retirement Commission, et al. v. Matthews et al. (75-283) Citations: 427 U.S. 445; 96 S. Ct. 2666; 49 L. Ed. 2d 614; 1976 U.S. LEXIS 160 Prior history: --- Subsequent history: ---
Holding
The Fourteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to override a State's Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity for the purpose of enforcing civil rights on the States.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr.; Potter Stewart; Byron Raymond White; Harry A. Blackmun; Lewis F. Powell, Jr.; William H. Rehnquist; John Paul Stevens
Case opinions
Majority by: William H. Rehnquist Joined by: Warren Earl Burger, Potter Stewart, Byron Raymond White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry A. Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Concurrance in the judgment by: William J. Brennan, Jr. Concurrance in the judgment by: John Paul Stevens
Laws applied
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Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445 (1976), was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the U.S. Congress has the power to abrogate the Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity of the states, if this is done pursuant to its Fourteenth Amendment power to enforce upon the states the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Amendment XIV (the Fourteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and includes the due process and equal protection clauses (Section 1). ... Amendment XI (the Eleventh Amendment) of the United States Constitution was passed by the US Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on February 7, 1795. ... Warren Burger at a press conference in May 1969 shortly after he was nominated to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... William Joseph Brennan (April 25, 1906 - July 24, 1997) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Justice Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 - December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... Byron White Byron Raymond White (June 8, 1917 – April 15, 2002) won fame both as a bruising running back and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Justice Harry Blackmun Harold Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. ... William Rehnquist Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist (born October 1, 1924) is an American jurist and former law clerk and Assistant Attorney General. ... Justice John Paul Stevens Justice John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is an American jurist who has been a U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice since 1975; he is the oldest justice on the court. ... Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... The abrogation doctrine is a doctrine in United States constitutional law which permits the U.S. Congress to allow lawsuits seeking monetary damages against individual U.S. states, so long as this is usually done pursuant to a constitutional limitation on the power of the states. ... Amendment XI (the Eleventh Amendment) of the United States Constitution was passed by the US Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on February 7, 1795. ... Sovereign immunity or crown immunity is a type of immunity that, in common law jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ... Amendment XIV (the Fourteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and includes the due process and equal protection clauses (Section 1). ...

Facts

In 1972, Congress amended Title VII to allow individuals to sue state governments for money damages for discrimination based on race, color, religion , sex, national origin. The plaintiffs, male retirees sued the state of Connecticut for sex discrimination against them in its retirement policies. Connecticut invoked its Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity, and the District Court, and Court of Appeals both allowed only injunctive relief, denying monetary recovery (although the Court of Appeals permitted attorney's fees). Both of those courts pointed to Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974), a recent United States Supreme Court case which had held that the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a federal court from ordering a U.S. state to pay money to an individual wronged by the state. The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court. 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Damages, in law has two different meanings. ... To discriminate is to make a distinction. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant, or a complainant is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... Retirement is the status of a worker who has stopped working. ... State nickname: The Constitution State Other U.S. States Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) Official languages English Area 14,371 km² (48th)  - Land 12,559 km²  - Water 1,809 km² (12. ... An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that either prohibits or compels (enjoins or restrains) a party from continuing a particular activity. ... Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- Edelman v. ... Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The term federal court, when used by itself, can refer to: Any court of the national government in a country that has a federal system such as that of the United States (United States federal courts) or Mexico In some countries, a particular court, for example, the Federal Court of...

Issue

Does Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity apply in this case?

Result

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Rehnquist, distinguished previous cases where individuals had attempted to sue the states for money damages (or the equivalent) - including Edelman v. Jordan - because those cases had not involved an express provision by Congress permitting such a lawsuit. The Court ruled that Congress has the power under the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate sovereign immunity of states, because the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted specifically to limit the power of the states, with the purpose of enforcing civil rights guarantees against them. Where the Fourteenth Amendment is brought to bear against the Eleventh Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment over-rides, as it was intended to. William Rehnquist Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist (born October 1, 1924) is an American jurist and former law clerk and Assistant Attorney General. ...

External link

• 427 U.S. 445 (Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com)
• Brennan's opinion concurring in the judgment on Findlaw.com (427 U.S. 445, 457)
• Stevens's opinion concurring in the judgment on Findlaw.com (427 U.S. 445, 458)