Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank and United States

Decided June 23, 1999. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 98-531 · 527 U.S. 627 (1999) · Cited 436 times

Holding

The Act’s abrogation of States’ sovereign immunity is invalid because it cannot be sustained as legislation enacted to enforce the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

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.

• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City · 383 U.S. 1 (1966)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)
• Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
• Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama State Docks Department · 377 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Consolidated Fruit-Jar Co. v. Wright · 94 U.S. 92 (1877)
• Parratt v. Taylor · 451 U.S. 527 (1981)
• Zinermon v. Burch · 494 U.S. 113 (1990)
• South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Dellmuth v. Muth · 491 U.S. 223 (1989)
• City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
• Goldstein v. California · 412 U.S. 546 (1973)
• Campbell v. Haverhill · 155 U.S. 610 (1895)
• Crozier v. Fried. Krupp Aktiengesellschaft · 224 U.S. 290 (1912)

Cited by

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

• Allen v. Cooper · 589 U.S. 248 (2020)
• Tennessee v. Lane · 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
• Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland · 566 U.S. 30 (2012)
• Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. · 579 U.S. 93 (2016)
• Central Virginia Community College v. Katz · 546 U.S. 356 (2006)
• Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety · 597 U.S. 580 (2022)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs · 538 U.S. 721 (2003)
• Trump v. Anderson · 601 U.S. 100 (2024)
• Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Maryland · 535 U.S. 635 (2002)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• United States v. Georgia · 546 U.S. 151 (2006)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. South Carolina State Ports Authority · 535 U.S. 743 (2002)
• Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation v. Hood · 541 U.S. 440 (2004)
• Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder · 557 U.S. 193 (2009)
• Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene's Energy Group, LLC · 584 U.S. 325 (2018)
• Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz · 601 U.S. 42 (2024)
• Allen v. Milligan · 599 U.S. 1 (2023)
• PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey · 594 U.S. 482 (2021)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). 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).