Dellmuth, Acting Secretary of Education of Pennsylvania v. Muth et al.

Decided June 15, 1989. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1855 · 491 U.S. 223 (1989) · Cited 437 times

Holding

The EHA does not abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit, and, thus, the Amendment bars respondent's attempt to collect tuition reimbursement from Pennsylvania.

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.

• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Department of Education · 471 U.S. 359 (1985)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Quern v. Jordan · 440 U.S. 332 (1979)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley Ex Rel. Rowley · 458 U.S. 176 (1982)
• Honig v. Doe · 484 U.S. 305 (1988)
• United States v. Bass · 404 U.S. 336 (1971)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Employees of Department of Public Health v. Department of Public Health · 411 U.S. 279 (1973)

Cited by

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

• Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak · 501 U.S. 775 (1991)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Hoffman v. Connecticut Department of Income Maintenance · 492 U.S. 96 (1989)
• Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission · 502 U.S. 197 (1991)
• Allen v. Cooper · 589 U.S. 248 (2020)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney · 495 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz · 601 U.S. 42 (2024)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for P. R. v. Centro De Periodismo Investigativo, Inc. · 598 U.S. 339 (2023)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• C & a Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown · 511 U.S. 383 (1994)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs · 538 U.S. 721 (2003)
• Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank · 527 U.S. 627 (1999)
• Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota · 534 U.S. 533 (2002)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).