Regents of the University of California, et al. v. John Doe Etc. (519 U.S. 425)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 19, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 519 U.S. 425 · 117 S. Ct. 900
- Decided
- February 19, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1996
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. The narrow question presented by this case is whether the fact that the Federal Government has agreed to indemnify a state instrumentality against the costs of litigation, including adverse judgments, divests the state agency of Eleventh Amendment immunity. We hold that it does not. I — I Respondent, a citizen of New York, brought suit against the Regents of the University of California and several individual defendants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Although he alleged other claims, we are concerned only with respondent’s breach-of-contract claim against the University. Doe contends that the University agreed to employ him as a mathematical physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which the University operates pursuant to a contract with the Federal Government. According to his complaint, the University wrongfully refused to perform its agreement with Doe because it determined that he could not obtain the required security clearance from the Department of Energy (Department). Relying on Ninth Circuit cases holding that the University is “an arm of the state,” the District Court concluded that the Eleventh Amendment barred respondent from maintaining his breach-of-contract action in federal court. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. Assuming that…
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