Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 676

529US3

Unit: $U54

[10-04-01 09:35:39] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 598 (2000)

601

Opinion of the Court

Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the

Court.

In these cases we consider the constitutionality of 42
U. S. C. § 13981, which provides a federal civil remedy for the

lows: Bruce M. Botelho of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Bill Lockyer
of California, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Richard Blumenthal of Connecti-
cut, M. Jane Brady of Delaware, Thurbert E. Baker of Georgia, Earl I.
Anzai of Hawaii, James E. Ryan of Illinois, Thomas J. Miller of Iowa,
Carla J. Stovall of Kansas, Albert Benjamin “Ben” Chandler III of Ken-
tucky, Richard P. Ieyoub of Louisiana, Andrew Ketterer of Maine, J. Joseph
Curran, Jr., of Maryland, Thomas F. Reilly of Massachusetts, Mike Hatch
of Minnesota, Mike Moore of Mississippi, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon of
Missouri, Joseph P. Mazurek of Montana, Frankie Sue Del Papa of
Nevada, Philip T. McLaughlin of New Hampshire, Patricia A. Madrid
of New Mexico, Michael F. Easley of North Carolina, Heidi Heitkamp of
North Dakota, W. A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, Hardy Myers of
Oregon, Jose A. Fuentes Agostini of Puerto Rico, Sheldon Whitehouse of
Rhode Island, Paul G. Summers of Tennessee, Jan Graham of Utah, Wil-
liam H. Sorrell of Vermont, Christine O. Gregoire of Washington, Darrell
V. McGraw, Jr., of West Virginia, and James E. Doyle of Wisconsin; for
the Association of Trial Lawyers of America by Jeffrey Robert White; for
AYUDA, Inc., et al. by Laura A. Foggan and Clifford M. Sloan; for the
Bar of the City of New York by Leon Friedman, Ronald J. Tabak, Louis
A. Craco, Jr., Greg Harris, and James F. Parver; for Equal Rights Ad-
vocates et al. by David S. Ettinger, Lisa R. Jaskol, and Mary-Christine
Sungaila; for International Law Scholars and Human Rights Experts by
Peter Weiss and Rhonda Copelon; for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law et al. by Norman Redlich, Marc D. Stern, Daniel F.
Kolb, Barbara Arnwine, Thomas J. Henderson, Jeffrey Sinensky, Steven
Freeman, Melvin Shralow, Eliot Mincberg, and Nadine Taub; for Law
Professors by Bruce Ackerman, Vicki C. Jackson, and Judith Resnik; for
the National Network to End Domestic Violence et al. by Bruce D. Sokler;
and for Joseph R. Biden, Jr., pro se.

Briefs of amici curiae urging afﬁrmance were ﬁled for the State of
Alabama by Bill Pryor, Attorney General, John J. Park, Jr., Assistant
Attorney General, and Jeffrey S. Sutton; for the Institute for Justice et al.
by Richard A. Epstein, William H. Mellor, Clint Bolick, Scott G. Bullock,
Timothy Lynch, and Robert A. Levy; for the Claremont Institute Center
for Constitutional Jurisprudence by Edwin Meese III; for the Clarendon
Foundation by Jay S. Bybee and Ronald D. Maines; for the Eagle Forum
Education & Legal Defense Fund by Erik S. Jaffe and Phyllis Schlaﬂy;
for the Independent Women’s Forum by Anita K. Blair, E. Duncan