Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corp.

In unrelated lawsuits, one in state court in Pennsylvania and one in state court in New York, New Jersey Transit Corporation was sued for damages. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that NJ Transit was entitled to sovereign immunity as an arm of New Jersey. The Court of Appeals of New York reached the opposite conclusion. The U.S. Supreme Court granted review in both cases to determine whether NJ Transit was entitled to “interstate sovereign immunity” as an arm of New Jersey.

Public Citizen filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in both cases. The brief argues that state affiliated corporate entities should presumptively be regarded as separate entities from the state for purposes of sovereign immunity and that an expansive test that permits state affiliated corporate entities to easily qualify as an arm of the state would harm out-of-state residents that transact business with such entities.