Also known as: cases where a state is a party · state party cases · original jurisdiction · state as party
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional category of controversies over which the Supreme Court possesses original jurisdiction when a state appears as a party to the suit.
State X and State Y disagreed over the precise location of their shared river boundary after a flood shifted the channel. State X filed an original action in the Supreme Court seeking a decree establishing the boundary line. The Court accepted the case for original jurisdiction because a state was a party to the controversy.
Clifford Cox, a state employee, sued State Z in federal district court alleging violations of federal wage and hour laws. The court exercised federal-question jurisdiction over the claim because the action arose under federal statutes even though a state was the defendant.
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Cascade Manufacturing sued State W in federal court for breach of a federal grant contract and added state-law claims for additional payments arising from the same project. The court exercised supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims because they formed part of the same case or controversy as the federal claim.
Charles Cunningham sued State V in state court under a federal civil rights statute. State V removed the action to federal district court, which accepted jurisdiction because the complaint presented a federal question and a state was the defendant.
Cameron Cruz sued State U in state court for overtime wages under federal law. State U moved to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds, arguing that Congress had not validly abrogated its immunity from private suits in its own courts.
Christine Castro and other plaintiffs sued State T in federal court asserting state-law claims that individually fell below the jurisdictional threshold. The court permitted aggregation of the claims to meet the amount-in-controversy requirement because at least one claim satisfied the statutory minimum.
Article III grants the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in all cases in which a state is a party. This jurisdiction is self-executing and applies directly to controversies between two or more states or between a state and citizens of another state.
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States retain immunity from private suits in their own courts absent consent. This immunity is inherent in sovereignty and prevents actions by individuals against a state without its permission.
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Yes. Once a district court has original jurisdiction over a claim against a state, it may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over related state-law claims that form part of the same case or controversy.
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…of the District Courts. Congress has exercised that power in 28 U. S. C. § 1343 (3): "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action authorized by law to be commenced by any person . . . [t]o redress the deprivation, under color of any State law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of any…