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Back in law school, I remember
my Constitutional Law professor warning us to look out for
11th Amendment cases. They were the new ones to
watch in the legal landscape.
 Five
years after I graduated, the Supreme Court handed down
Seminole Tribe v. Florida,
517 U.S. 44 (1996),
an important Eleventh Amendment ruling regarding all states
as sovereign entities. I thought to paint it.
In this case, the Seminole
Tribe (represented by the green Seminole jacket) brought
suit before the federal court (represented by the American
flag) against the State of Florida for violating a
requirement of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The act
allowed the tribe to engage in gaming (i.e., casino
gambling, slot machines).
The case worked its way up
the Supreme Court, which held that sovereignty under the 11th
Amendment (depicted by the two vertical tears created on the
jacket) inherently implies that states may not be sued by
parties without their consent, even if they are given
authority to regulate those parties' activities through
receipt of federal funds.
The ripped jacket reveals
the façade of a slot machine—showing three rows of
repetitive symbols. Jackpot! And the winner as… The
Sovereign State of Florida.
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