Case Citator › Hans v. Louisiana

Hans v. Louisiana

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

Criticized by some courts
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Citation
134 U.S. 1
Decided
Confirmed treatments
2
Flagged citations read
703 of 703
Citing cases (total)
2,784
Treatment dates
2001–2023
Criticized by some courts
At least one reviewed court has criticized this case’s reasoning. No reviewed court has overruled it. Hans v. Louisiana has been criticized. All 703 flagged citations have been processed; 2 confirmed adverse treatments are listed below.
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.

2,784 later cases cite Hans v. Louisiana; 703 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 Hans v. Louisiana?

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

Criticized

  • The bankruptcy court criticized Hans's extension of the Eleventh Amendment to a Texas citizen's bankruptcy proceeding as contrary to the Amendment's plain text, while following binding authority.

    Lankford v. Texas, Comptroller of Public Accounts (In re Lankford) · Bankr. N.D. Tex. · filed

    The Eleventh Amendment on its face does not apply. ... Yet, apparently, the court must read that language to cover Lankford’s adversary proceeding. See Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 10 S.Ct. 504, 33 L.Ed. 842 (1890).
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The district court criticized Hans's extension of sovereign immunity to same-state citizen suits as historically murky and contrary to the Eleventh Amendment's plain text.

    Estate of Richard Canada v. State of Indiana · N.D. Ind. · filed

    By its plain terms, the Eleventh Amendment does not apply to suits brought by citizens of one state against their own state. But for murky reasons largely based in history rather than the actual text of the Amendment, it has been interpreted to apply to all suits against states — even those brought by citizens of the same state. It’s been that way since the Supreme Court so held back in 1890, despite the plain language to the contrary. Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1 (1890).
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Does this case still carry your argument?

Describe your facts. Ezel reads Hans v. Louisiana and the cases that treated it, then tells you whether it still holds for your situation, with citations.

Opens in Ezel Pro.

  • Checks the law as it stands today, not only this page
  • Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
  • Chat, drafting and research in one workspace