Amendment 11

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

This amendment deals with each state's soveirgnty, or immunity from being sued in federal court by someone of another state or country.

Im not sure why the link is not working..... Here is another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc9TCUzNriU

This is a video of recent controversy of Latin American countries challanging Arizona's immigration policy. The argument is that this is against the eleventh amendment because it should give state's protection from being sued in a federal court by another country.


Arm Of The State?


By fitsnews • on December 8, 2010Comment Email Print ShareThis



In defending their institution from a wrongful termination suit filed by a former employee, Clemson University attorneys recently argued that the school was an “arm of the state,” thus affording it immunity from prosecution under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.



In a ruling issued on July 22, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Perry agreed with Clemson … dismissing former board of trustees’ secretary Eugene Troutman’s suit “pursuant to the doctrine of Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity.”



Troutman’s crime? He exposed the fact that Clemson hid hid nearly $140 million from state lawmakers at the same time they were begging the state for more money (and nearly tripling tuition costs for parents).



He should have been given a medal …



Anyway, the bad guys won again … which is par for the course in this state. Case closed … right?



Not so fast …



In spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to successfully mount this elementary defense, Clemson may have exposed itself to a serious problem regarding the constitutionality of its Board of Trustees. It’s a classic “win the battle, lose the war”-type situation.



As we noted in a recent post about Clemson, seven of the school’s thirteen trustees are lifetime appointments who get to anoint their successors. They’re untouchable, in other words, as well as a perpetual majority of the school’s governing body. The other six members? They’re appointed by the S.C. General Assembly to four-year terms.



There’s just one problem with those life appointees … well, assuming you have just successfully dodged a lawsuit by declaring yourself to be an “arm of the state.”



According to Article VI, Section I of the state constitution, “no person may be elected or appointed to office in this State for life or during good behavior, but the terms of all officers must be for some specified period except officers in the militia.”



Translation? Lifetime appointments are unconstitutional in South Carolina … which means that control of the Clemson board of trustees is currently in the hands of seven people who are flagrantly violating this provision.



As we have done with unnecessary spending and inefficiencies at the University of South Carolina, FITS has made it a point to expose similar frauds at Clemson … that hasn’t exactly endeared us to the administration up there, and we’re sure that lending our distinct “thump” to the drumbeat calling for



But there are bigger issues



Bottom line? We don’t think that South Carolina parents should continue to be subjected to exorbitant tuition increases because these schools cannot focus on their core mission of educating students.



They certainly shouldn’t be exposed to such mismanagement under an unconstitutional governance structure that lacks any semblance of accountability.



Also Clemson simply cannot have it both ways … if the school is an “arm of the state” and can avoid prosecution because of that status, then it is subject to the laws of this state – including the ban on lifetime appointments.



We hope that S.C. Gov.-elect Nikki Haley – a Clemson grad who is thick as thieves with the school’s leadership (Haley named Clemson Board of Trustees Chairman David Wilkins to lead her transition team) – will get behind an effort to end Clemson’s lifetime appointments



After all, Haley built her 2010 gubernatorial campaign on the notion of accountability in government. What better way to show her seriousness on that front?



We also hope that S.C. lawmakers – who appropriate hundreds of millions of dollars to Clemson each year – will get behind this effort as well in the interests of promoting accountability at an institution that desperately needs it.



Clemson has declared itself to be an “arm of the state …” now it must abide by South Carolina’s laws.

This article is about a school that was accused of fraud that claimed that it could not be taken to court by the accuser because it declared itself  "an arm of the State" and was thus protected by the eleventh amendment.
 A district court judges ruled in their favor, agreeing that the protection of the eleventh amendment extended to Clemson since they received state funding and were technically an "arm of the state".