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CHISHOLM V. GEORGIA

CHISHOLM V. GEORGIA, 2 Dallas 419 (1793). The heirs of Alexander Chisholm, citizens of South Carolina, sued the state of Georgia to enforce payment of claims against that state. Georgia refused to defend the suit, and the Supreme Court, upholding the right of citizens of one state to sue another state under Article III, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, ordered judgment by default against Georgia. No writ of execution was attempted because of threats by the lower house of the Georgia legislature. The Eleventh Amendment ended such actions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Corwin, Edward S. The Commerce Power versus States Rights. Gloucester, Mass.: P. Smith, 1962.

Orth, John V. The Judicial Power of the United States: The Eleventh Amendment in American History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

E. Merton Coulter/A. R.

See also Constitution of the United States; Georgia; State Sovereignty; States' Rights.