Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman - Significance, The Developmentally Disabled Assistance And Bill Of Rights Act, Further Readings

court petitioner relief decision

Petitioner

Pennhurst State School & Hospital

Respondent

Terri Lee Halderman

Petitioner's Claim

That the federal court cannot award injunctive relief against state officials where the relief is justified through state law.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

H. Bartow Farr III

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Thomas K. Gilhool

Justices for the Court

Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

23 January 1984

Decision

The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution bars federal courts from granting an injunction ordering state officials to conform their conduct to state law.

Related Cases

Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908).
Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 (1936).
Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978).

Sources

Bradley, David, and Shelley Fisher Fishkin, eds. The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 1998.

Additional Topics

Pennhurst State School Hospital v. Halderman - Significance

In accordance with the Eleventh Amendment, if a legal claim is brought against a state official for violating a state law, then the federal court has no jurisdiction to grant relief unless the state actions are also violative of federal law. Terri Lee Halderman was a resident of Pennhurst State School and Hospital, which is a state institution in Pennsylvania that was established for the care of t…

Pennhurst State School Hospital v. Halderman - The Developmentally Disabled Assistance And Bill Of Rights Act

Passed by Congress in 1975, the Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act set up a joint federal and state program under which the federal government offered financial assistance to states establishing and maintaining programs for the developmentally disabled or mentally retarded. State participation in the act was voluntary, and states could either comply with the act's provision…

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User Comments

11 months ago

chrissy

Hi, My name is chrissy. I did a reporrt on the Pennhurst State School and Hospital my senior year in high school. And later that year i Leared that one of my relatives went there because they were pronounced mentaly retarded. After all my resurch after that i can't beleive the state let that go on. After that i started to watch a new show called gost adentures. They did a show on this very topic. The PennHouse state mental hospital.I watched that very episiode over and over and i was listening to the people talk about how they can hear children screaming at night and they are calling out for help. All because they were told they were mentaly retarded. If anyone in that hospital was mentaly retarded it was the staff. I hope that every child that is locked in this world because of what happend to them find peace and move on. Thankyou.