# Eleventh Amendment **Status: stub — expand.** Ratified 1795 to overturn *Chisholm v. Georgia* (1793): "The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit... commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State." Doctrine now reaches well past the text. *Hans v. Louisiana* (1890) extended the bar to suits by a state's **own** citizens; *Seminole Tribe v. Florida* (1996) held Congress cannot abrogate immunity under Article I powers; *Alden v. Maine* (1999) extended it to state courts. Congress **can** abrogate under § 5 of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]] with a clear statement and a congruent-and-proportional remedy. The workaround is *Ex parte Young* (1908): sue the state **officer** for prospective injunctive relief rather than the state for damages. Nearly every successful state-federal constitutional challenge runs through it. ## See also - [[Sovereign Immunity]] · [[Fourteenth Amendment]] · [[Federalism Powers Crosswalk]]