Stackhouse v. Commonwealth, Pennsylvania State Police

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that sovereign immunity does not bar suits seeking prohibitory injunctions to restrain state action
• clarifying that sovereign immunity bars claims seeking mandatory injunctions to compel affirmative action by Commonwealth officials, but not those seeking prohibitory injunctions to restrain state action
• explaining sovereign immunity’s purpose is to [J-32-2021] - 22 protect state agencies and employees “not only from judgments but also from being required to expend the time and funds necessary to defend suits”
• explaining “[t]he purpose of absolute sovereign immunity [is] to insulate state agencies and employees not only from judgments but also from being required to expend the time and funds necessary to defend suits”
• recognizing sovereign immunity is absolute
• “Generally, the Commonwealth and its agencies, officials and employees acting within the scope of their duties are immune from suits for damages.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).