Case Citator › Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia

Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.

Overruled
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Citation
2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419
Decided
Confirmed treatments
7
Flagged citations read
106 of 106
Citing cases (total)
682
Treatment dates
1890–2019
Overruled
A reviewed court has overruled this case. Chisholm v. Georgia is overruled among the reviewed cases: all 106 flagged citations have been read, with seven confirmed treatments listed below. Hans v. Louisiana authoritatively held that the Eleventh Amendment reversed and overruled Chisholm, and later Supreme Court opinions repeatedly confirmed that result, repudiated Chisholm's central premise, and called the decision erroneous, discredited, and a blunder.
More on how this was screened

The other reviewed opinions were lower-court history reports about the Amendment or Hans, cited Justice Iredell's Chisholm dissent, used nearby treatment language for other sovereign-immunity precedents, or did not discuss Chisholm at all. CourtListener lists Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy v. Stewart twice; both copies were reviewed, but the treatment is listed once.

Every treatment on this page is written from the citing opinion itself, with a verbatim quote, never copied from a commercial citator. A citation flagged by our screen but not shown here was read and found not to weaken this case.

682 later cases cite Chisholm v. Georgia; 106 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.

Relying on Chisholm v. Georgia?

This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.

Treatments

Overruled

  • The Supreme Court held that the Eleventh Amendment reversed and overruled Chisholm's construction permitting a citizen of one State or a foreign country to sue another State in federal court.

    Hans v. Louisiana · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    This amendment, expressing the will of the ultimate sovereignty of the whole country, superior to all legislatures and all courts, actually reversed the decision of-the Supreme Court.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Supreme Court confirmed that the Eleventh Amendment overruled Chisholm's particular result and affirmed sovereign immunity as a limitation on Article III jurisdiction.

    Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    The Amendment’s language overruled the particular result in Chisholm, but this Court has recognized that its greater significance lies in its affirmation that the fundamental principle of sovereign immunity limits the grant of judicial authority in Art. III.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Supreme Court confirmed that the Eleventh Amendment overturned Chisholm and declared Chisholm erroneous.

    Federal Maritime Commission v. South Carolina State Ports Authority · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    In order to overturn Chisholm, Congress quickly passed the Eleventh Amendment and the States ratified it speedily.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Abrogated

  • The Supreme Court held that the Eleventh Amendment repudiated Chisholm's central premise that Article III superseded the States' preexisting sovereign immunity.

    College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    Though its precise terms bar only federal jurisdiction over suits brought against one State by citizens of another State or foreign state, we have long recognized that the Eleventh Amendment accomplished much more: It repudiated the central premise of Chisholm that the jurisdictional heads of Article III superseded the sovereign immunity that the States possessed before entering the Union.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Supreme Court confirmed that the Eleventh Amendment eliminated the basis for Chisholm's judgment permitting a noncitizen to sue a State.

    Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy v. Stewart · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    The language of the Eleventh Amendment1 only eliminates the basis for our judgment in the famous ease of Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 419 (1793), which involved a suit against a State by a noncitizen of the State.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Supreme Court recognized the Eleventh Amendment as the remedy for Chisholm's sovereign-immunity error and again characterized the decision as incorrect.

    Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    Congress and the States accordingly acted swiftly to remedy the Court’s blunder by drafting and ratifying the Eleventh Amendment. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U. S. 651, 660–662 (1974); see also Federal Maritime Comm’n, supra, at 753 (acknowledging that Chisholm was incorrect); Alden, supra, at 721–722 (same).
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Criticized

  • The Supreme Court described Chisholm as discredited while restoring the broader sovereign-immunity doctrine that the decision had rejected.

    Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    the now-discredited decision in Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 419 (1793)
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

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