SCOTUS Grants Review in Texas Dispute Over Sovereign Immunity

In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to take a Texas sovereign-immunity case that originated from the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi-Edinburg, rather than from the Texas Supreme Court.

At issue is whether a state may be sued in state court for violating a federal law that gave military members a cause of action in disputes over discrimination on the basis of military service. Invoking sovereign immunity, Texas asserted that it was immune from that kind of lawsuit.