Can ADA actions be brought in Illinois state courts?
In Erickson, Judge Easterbrook cautioned the state of Illinois that it remains bound by the ADA, because Congress has the power to bind the states when it legislates pursuant to the commerce clause, and the ADA is good commerce clause legislation.47 Also, the United States may sue the state in federal court, for the 11th Amendment has been held inapplicable to suits by the federal government.48 All that the Amendment prohibits is a private suit for damages against the state in federal court. The ADA gives state courts concurrent jurisdiction over ADA cases. But are Illinois courts required to assert jurisdiction over ADA cases filed in state court? The answer is far from clear. The Supreme Court held, in Alden v. Maine, that Congress did not have authority under Article I to abrogate a state’s immunity from suit in its own courts.49 That case involved the Fair Labor Standards Act ( “FLSA”), a statute enacted by Congress under its commerce clause powers. Under Seminole Tribe, the plaint
