Will v. Michigan Department of State Police

Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued 5 December, 1988 Decided 15 June, 1989
Full case name	Ray Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, et al.
Citations	491 U.S. 58 (more) 109 S. Ct. 2304; 105 L. Ed. 2d 45; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 2975; 57 U.S.L.W. 4677; 49 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1664; 50 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¶ 39,067
Holding
Neither States nor state officials acting in their official capacities are "persons" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when being sued for monetary damages.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy
Dissent	Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Dissent	Stevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XI, 42 U.S.C. § 1983

Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court, in which the Court held that States and their officials acting in their official capacity are not persons when sued for monetary damages under the Civil Rights Act of 1871.^[1]