The King can do no wrong
Some of you have asked what I've been working on this summer as my sabbatical begins. I'll share one small piece here. Rt. Hon. Sir John Comyns The Sacrosanct title is partly a study of the theological roots of Sovereign Immunity: 'The King can do no wrong.' It is a cornerstone feature of American public law, which the United States Supreme Court addressed very early in its history in a case that is now largely forgotten due to the Eleventh Amendment. That case was Chisholm v. Georgia (1793): Opinion . Basically, can citizens of one state sue another state in Federal court? The majority say Yes - a position that the Eleventh Amendment eliminated. Reading the opinions (not as lawyer but as a theorist and legal historian) was very illuminating. First of all, it's impressive to see the variety of authorities that the Court - still only four years old - needed to invoke, given the dearth of precedents. Chief Justice Jay, in his discussion of the f...
