Northern Insurance Co. of New York v. Chatham County, Georgia
While sailing on the Intercoastal Waterway, Ludwig's boat was damaged when a drawbridge operated by Chatham County, Georgia, collapsed. Ludwig’s insurance company, Northerrn, sued Chatham County for negligent maintenance of the bridge, filing the law suit under admiralty law in a federal district court. Chatham moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that they were an “arm of the state” and thus immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution. The district court granted the motion. On appeal, Northern argued that while Georgia clearly had sovereign immunity according to the Eleventh Amendment, county governments were not "arms of the state" and were not immune. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, holding that Chatham County was acting as an "arm of the state" in operating the drawbridge, and thus was entitled to "residual sovereign immunity" based on the common law, rather than the Eleventh Amendment.
Question Presented:
Whether an entity that does not qualify as "an arm of the state" for 11th Amendment purposes can nonetheless assert sovereign immunity as a defense to an
admiralty action?
Decision under Review (unpublished decision)
