Melinda Erickson, United States of America, Intervenor v. Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities for Northeastern Illinois University

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

We must decide whether Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111-17, is an exercise of power under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which confers authority “to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions *947of this article.” Defendant in this suit is an arm of Illinois and therefore one of the United States for purposes of the Eleventh Amendment. Congress has power under the Commerce Clause to adopt the ada’s rules, but given the Eleventh Amendment a statute that rests only on the Commerce Clause can not authorize private suits against…