NM Paterson & Sons, Limited v. City of Chicago

SULLIVAN, District Judge.

This is a libel in Admiralty by a Canadian corporation against the City of Chicago seeking to recover damages to plaintiff’s ship allegedly caused by defendant’s negligent operation of a drawbridge which crosses the Chicago River.

Defendant has moved to dismiss the libel. It first urges in support of the motion that the suit against the City must be considered one against the State of Illinois, and that this court is accordingly without jurisdiction under the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. That Amendment reads:

“The Judicial power of the…