"One of the reasons the doctrines of sovereign immunity have eroded over time, " he said, " is that it is very difficult for a political body to tell citizens repeatedly that they have no redress when the government commits, time and again, an egregious wrong ."
22.
Under state law, however, the Court in Pennhurst noted that even without immunity, suits against municipal officials relate to an institution run and funded by the state, and any relief against county or municipal officials that has some significant effect on the state treasury must be considered a suit against the state, and barred under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
23.
The legal doctrines of sovereign immunity ( which protects the state from suit ) and official immunity ( which in Michigan shields top government officials from personal liability, even in cases of gross negligence ) resulted in comparatively few lawsuits being filed in the Flint case, and caused large national plaintiffs'law firms to be reluctant to become involved with the case.
24.
The Court began by repudiating the precedential value of " Union Gas ", noting that there was no single majority rationale, and characterizing it as a major departure from the 19th century case of " Hans v . Louisiana ", 134 U . S . 1 ( 1890 ), which had established the modern doctrine of sovereign immunity.
25.
Other tribes have seen fit to use Taylor v . Alabama Intertribal Council Title IV J . T . P . A ., 535 U . S . 1066 ( 2002 ) in instances where a lack of jurisdiction due the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity is to be applied to various cases in which a clear precedent of tribal sovereign immunity can be utilized to realize tribal sovereignty.
26.
Although " Lee " seemed to invite a full-scale reconsideration of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, subsequent Supreme Court decisions in " Larson v . Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corporation ", 337 U . S . 682 ( 1949 ) and " Malone v . Bowdoin ", 369 U . S . 643 ( 1962 ) sharply limited the impact of the " Lee"
27.
Justice Stevens's dissenting opinion said, " There is not a word in the text of the Constitution supporting the Court s conclusion that the judge-made doctrine of sovereign immunity limits Congress power to authorize private parties, as well as federal agencies, to enforce federal law against the States . " Justice Stevens referred to the doctrine of sovereign immunity as expanded by " Seminole Tribe v . Florida " and " Alden v . Maine " as " judicial activism ."
28.
Justice Stevens's dissenting opinion said, " There is not a word in the text of the Constitution supporting the Court s conclusion that the judge-made doctrine of sovereign immunity limits Congress power to authorize private parties, as well as federal agencies, to enforce federal law against the States . " Justice Stevens referred to the doctrine of sovereign immunity as expanded by " Seminole Tribe v . Florida " and " Alden v . Maine " as " judicial activism ."
29.
Any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity, shall not be immune, under the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States or under any other doctrine of sovereign immunity, from suit in Federal Court by any person, including any governmental or nongovernmental entity, for a violation of any of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner provided by sections 106 through 122, for importing copies of phonorecords in violation of section 602, or for any other violation under this title.
30.
Due to the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the IRS itself ( along with many other Federal agencies ) does not, as a general rule, have the capacity to " sue and be sued "-- a concept separate from that of whether the IRS is a U . S . " government agency . " See, for example, " Thompson v . Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and United States of America ", where the court stated that the " Department of the Treasury " and " Internal Revenue Service " are " federal agencies within the United States Government.
