Overview
- Constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar’s 1987 proposal urges states to create private causes of action allowing citizens to sue federal officials for violations of the U.S. Constitution.
- Several states, including California, Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey, have enacted versions of such laws, and Illinois recently adopted a statute aimed at conduct by immigration agents.
- The Department of Justice under President Trump has sued to block Illinois’s law, arguing it conflicts with the Constitution’s supremacy clause and that any remedy must come from Congress.
- The Supreme Court’s narrowing of Bivens has largely foreclosed implied damages suits against federal agents, intensifying interest in state-level remedies.
- A 2023 concurrence by Judge Justin Walker cited Amar’s article and said a state could create a cause of action for direct claims of federal constitutional violations, though the approach remains untested in higher courts.