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Federal Sovereign Immunity

Learn about the federal government’s immunity from suit.

Transcript

I.          Introduction 

Federal sovereign immunity provides that the United States federal government may not be sued unless it has waived its immunity or otherwise has consented to be sued.

If you’re looking in the Constitution for the origins of sovereign immunity, stop. You won’t find anything there. Unlike many federal doctrines, sovereign immunity isn’t constitutionally based. In fact, the Constitution nowhere mentions it. ...