Albert Hess and Charles F. Walsh v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation

Decided November 14, 1994. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1197 · 513 U.S. 30 (1994) · Cited 723 times

Holding

PATH is not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency · 440 U.S. 391 (1979)
• Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney · 495 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Cory v. White · 457 U.S. 85 (1982)
• Petty v. Tennessee-Missouri Bridge Commission · 359 U.S. 275 (1959)
• Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission · 502 U.S. 197 (1991)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. · 506 U.S. 139 (1993)
• United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Cuyler v. Adams · 449 U.S. 433 (1981)
• Lincoln County v. Luning · 133 U.S. 529 (1890)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)
• Alabama v. Pugh · 438 U.S. 781 (1978)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Highland Farms Dairy, Inc. v. Agnew · 300 U.S. 608 (1937)
• Missouri v. Fiske · 290 U.S. 18 (1933)
• Virginia v. Tennessee · 148 U.S. 503 (1893)
• West Virginia Ex Rel. Dyer v. Sims · 341 U.S. 22 (1951)
• United States Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission · 434 U.S. 452 (1978)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Lewis v. Clarke · 581 U.S. 155 (2017)
• Regents of University of California v. Doe · 519 U.S. 425 (1997)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Auer v. Robbins · 519 U.S. 452 (1997)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• Rapanos v. United States · 547 U.S. 715 (2006)
• Alabama v. North Carolina · 560 U.S. 330 (2010)
• City of Columbus v. Ours Garage & Wrecker Service, Inc. · 536 U.S. 424 (2002)
• City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc. · 514 U.S. 725 (1995)
• Sackett v. EPA · 598 U.S. 651 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).