Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-0751
Case Information
- Content Scored
- Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793)
- Source
- Supreme Court of the United States (Jay Court), U.S. Reports Vol. 2 (2 Dallas)
- Author
- Chief Justice John Jay (Wilson, Cushing, Blair concurring seriatim; Iredell dissenting)
- Publication Date
- 1793-02-01
- Content Type
- Judicial Opinion / Legal-Normative Text
- Opinion Issued
- 2026-07-20
- AFCS Version
- 1.0
Holding
This is the rare case in which a faithful reading of the constitutional text produced a result that the constitutional order itself, through its own amendment mechanism, promptly overturned. Chief Justice Jay held Georgia suable by a citizen of another State: at the Revolution "the sovereignty devolved on the people... they are sovereigns without subjects... joint-tenants in the sovereignty," so a State carries no feudal immunity, and Article III's text ("controversies between a State and citizens of another State") reaches a State as defendant. He grounded it in equal justice — "justice is the same whether due from one man or a million." The alignment is genuinely divided: the popular-sovereignty premise is bedrock originalism and a plain-text reading (Article XVII, method); it vindicates the citizen's access to justice (Article II) and the rule of law without respect of persons (Article XVIII). But the holding's core structural consequence — denial of State sovereign immunity — is precisely what the People repudiated: within two years the Eleventh Amendment was ratified and "all the other suits against States were swept at once from the records of the court." That restored the federalism the Standard prizes (Article XII, against). This is the singular case where the settled constitutional order itself, by amendment, corrected the reading. Scored as Legal/Normative text (85/15). Tier 1 nets to 60; the result is 64 — Mostly America First, at the low edge. Principle scored, not result.
It is the judgment of this Court that Opinion No. 2026-0751 is hereby entered into the record, in accordance with the America First Constitutional Standard. The score stands. The reasoning is published. The record is public.