Whittington v. State Department of Public Safety

OPINION

ALARID, J.

{1} On appeal we are asked to decide whether the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution bars suit by a citizen against a state in state court. We must also decide the corollary issue of whether the Supremacy Clause supersedes state sovereign immunity and therefore requires state courts to enforce federal law. The district court dismissed the Appellants’ (Employees) suit against the State of New Mexico Department of Public Safety (the Department), finding that the Eleventh Amendment granted sovereign immunity to states in both federal and state court. We reverse.

F…