Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters. James Iredell, North Carolina’s second ...

Only Justice James Iredell dissented, primarily on the ground that Congress had not passed any statute that clearly authorized private suits against state governments in the federal courts.

That is not surprising, as the Founders viewed the Constitution as, in the words of James Iredell, “a great power of attorney,” in which the principals (“We the People”) grant power to ...