John Ashcroft, Attorney General v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al.

Decided May 13, 2002. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1293 · 535 U.S. 564 (2002) · Cited 386 times

Holding

A State waives its Eleventh Amendment immunity when it removes a case from state court to 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 8–1.

“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.

• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Jenkins v. Georgia · 418 U.S. 153 (1974)
• Butler v. Michigan · 352 U.S. 380 (1957)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day · 370 U.S. 478 (1962)
• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan · 564 U.S. 117 (2011)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).