It concludes by advocating for reforms that would narrow the rightsвЂ“ remedies gap for constitutional violations, while showing due respect for the values that undergird this American jurisprudence of вЂњrepublican sovereignty.вЂќ Potential reforms include permitting suits against local governments when there is no other federal remedy available and placing restrictions on the execution of judgments instead of restricting the availability of suits. This Article observes that the version of state sovereignty that infuses these immunity doctrines is inflected with concerns about repubВlicanism, representative government, federalism, and autonomy. Qualified and absolute immunities have roots in the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Second, like federal and state officials, local actors are often entitled to qualified and absolute immunities, blocking suits against such actors in their individual capacities. The requirement also shares historical roots with comВmon law doctrines barring or limiting suits against local governments for traditional torts. This causation requirement shares core historical and ideological commitments with the Supreme CourtвЂ™s state sovereignty jurisprudence. First, a special, stringent causation requirement often prohibits recovery against local governments, even when that governmentвЂ™s agent violates federal constitutional rights. Local sovereign immunity operates primarily through two doctrines that, together, prevent remedies for violations of federal rights. And this immunity unduly obstructs constitutional accountability. This Article argues that as a descriptive matter, contrary to the conventional account, a form of sovereign immunity protects local governments from federal constitutional suits. Local government, after all, is the layer of government that is often closest to our daily lives, from law enforceВment to education. This Article explores this accountability gap in cases involving local officialsвЂ™ violations of the Constitution. When governmental actors offend federal rights, victims are often left with no one to hold accountable in federal courts.

Williams act s. rep. no. 510