Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents
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''Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents'', 528 U.S. 62 (2000), was a
US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
case that determined that the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...
's enforcement powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to the
US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
did not extend to the
abrogation Abrogation may refer to: * ''Abrogatio'', the Latin term for legal annulment under Roman law * Abrogation of Old Covenant laws, the ending or setting aside of Old Testament stipulations for the New Testament * Abrogation doctrine, a doctrine in Un ...
of state sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment over complaints of discrimination that is rationally based on age.


Facts and result

Employees of
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
and
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...
, including J. Daniel Kimel, Jr., sued under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 because the failure to adjust pay had a disparate impact on older employees. Wellington Dickson sued his employer, the
Florida Department of Corrections The Florida Department of Corrections operates state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in Florida's capital of Tallahassee. The Florida Department of Corrections operates the third largest state prison system in the ...
, for not promoting him because of his age. Roderick MacPherson and Marvin Narz, who were associate professors at the University of Montevallo in
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, sued under the ADEA and alleged an evaluation system that discriminated against the elderly. The cases of Kimel, Dickson, MacPherson and Narz were consolidated on appeal to the
Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
and remained consolidated when the Supreme Court granted
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
. ''Kimel'' invalidated the ADEA insofar as it allowed plaintiffs to sue states for money damages.


Legal background

''Kimel'' concerned the ability of Congress to override the states' "sovereign immunity" using its power under the Fourteenth Amendment. Sovereign immunity is a principle that originally comes from English law and referred to the immunity of the English monarch from suits. Sovereign immunity, according to the Supreme Court in ''
Hans v. Louisiana ''Hans v. Louisiana'', 134 U.S. 1 (1890), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court determining that the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a citizen of a U.S. state to sue that state in a federal court. Citizens cannot bring suits against thei ...
'' (1890), normally prevents a state from being sued by its own citizens in federal court. That bar from suits, the Court stated, came from the Eleventh Amendment even though the express terms of the amendment provide only that citizens of one state cannot sue another state. In ''
Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer ''Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer'', 427 U.S. 445 (1976), was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the U.S. Congress has the power to abrogate the Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity of the states, if this is done pursuant to its ...
'' (1976), however, the Court made an exception to that usual rule. ''Fitzpatrick'' held that Congress could use its power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which allows Congress to enforce the substantive terms of the Fourteenth Amendment, including the Equal Protection Clause, by positive legislation, to override state sovereign immunity. However, in 1997, in ''
City of Boerne v. Flores ''City of Boerne v. Flores'', 521 U.S. 507 (1997), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the scope of Congress's power of enforcement under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case also had a signific ...
'', the Court limited congressional power to override state sovereign immunity using the Fourteenth Amendment. For the first time, it required "congruence and proportionality" between the constitutional wrong and the congressionally-enacted remedy to protect constitutional rights. ''Boerne'' held that only the Supreme Court could determine what constituted a constitutional wrong, and Congress was not allowed to increase the level of constitutional protection beyond what the Court had recognized. Specifically, ''Boerne'' interpreted the scope of Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states, "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." The Court in ''Kimel'' based its decision in large part on ''Boerne''. The importance of ''Kimel'' was the strict limits it placed on the ability of Congress to abrogate the states' sovereign immunity under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.


Decision

Justice O'Connor wrote the majority opinion and stated that Congress, in enacting the ADEA, had properly declared its intent to subject states to suits for money damages by private individuals. The Court then noted that under its own equal protection jurisprudence, "age is not a suspect classification," and laws that classify on the basis of age need to pass only the Court's " rational basis review" test, as opposed to legal classifications based on race or gender if a "history of purposeful unequal treatment" leads the Court to apply
strict scrutiny In U.S. constitutional law, when a law infringes upon a fundamental constitutional right, the court may apply the strict scrutiny standard. Strict scrutiny holds the challenged law as presumptively invalid unless the government can demonstrate th ...
to such laws. The Court then contrasted rational basis review with the ADEA, which prohibits all employment discrimination on the basis of age except if age is a "bona fide occupational qualification."29 U.S.C. ยง 623(f)(1). The Court concluded that the ADEA "prohibits substantially more state employment decisions and practices than would likely be held unconstitutional under the applicable equal protection, rational basis standard." Therefore, the ADEA's remedy failed the "congruence and proportionality" test required by ''Boerne'' and so it was not "a valid exercise of constitutional authority" under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. In explaining the application of rational basis review to classifications based on age, the majority stated: Justice Stevens wrote a dissenting opinion that stated, "There is not a word in the text of the Constitution supporting the Court's conclusion that the judge-made doctrine of sovereign immunity limits Congress' power to authorize private parties, as well as federal agencies, to enforce federal law against the States." Justice Stevens referred to the doctrine of sovereign immunity as expanded by '' Seminole Tribe v. Florida'' and ''
Alden v. Maine ''Alden v. Maine'', 527 U.S. 706 (1999), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States about whether the United States Congress may use its Article I powers to abrogate a state's sovereign immunity from suits in its own courts, thereb ...
'' as " judicial activism."


See also

* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 528 * List of United States Supreme Court cases * Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume


Notes


External links

* {{US14thAmendment, enforcement United States Eleventh Amendment case law United States equal protection case law United States Fourteenth Amendment, section five case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court Legal history of Florida 2000 in United States case law Ageism case law Florida State University