Supreme Court

A few thoughts on the oral argument in Galette v. N.J. Transit Corp.

Stephen E. Sachs | 1.15.2026 4:55 PM

The Supreme Court heard argument yesterday in Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corporation, a pair of consolidated cases asking whether the New Jersey Transit Corporation shares in the State of New Jersey's sovereign immunity. The plaintiffs, who were hit by N.J. Transit buses in Pennsylvania and in New York, argue no. Sovereign immunity is for sovereigns, and New Jersey deliberately created the Corporation as a separate legal person—with separate capacity to sue and be sued, separate wins and losses in court, and separate assets and liabilities.

Will Baude and I agree, as we wrote in an amicus brief: States retain the immunity from suit they had at the Founding, and that immunity extended to the sovereign States themselves, not to their political subdivisions or public corporations. But there were four questions that came up at argument that deserve further attention.

The first question is whether corporate separateness needs to be assessed de jure or de facto. As a matter of law, the Corporation has its own assets and liabilities, and a loss for the Corporation in court doesn't necessarily have any impact on the rights and obligations of the State of New Jersey. In practice, of course, New Jersey routinely subsidizes the Corporation and contributes to its budget. So if the Corporation has to pay Cedric Galette's medical bills after........

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