Landor v. Louisiana Dept of Corrections and Public Safety · ¶101

These are important measures, for obvious reasons. They are also required if these laws’ intended ends are to be accomplished, for a “State can act only through its officials,” and an institution only through its employees. Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 465 U. S. 89, 114, n. 25 (1984); cf. Printz v. United States, 521 U. S. 898, 931 (1997) (“To say that the Federal Government cannot control the State, but can control all of its officers, is to say nothing of significance”). Congress reasonably seeks to ensure compliance with its directives by giving individual actors imbued with state authority a personal stake in the matter. Nothing in the Constitution prevents Congress from designing Spending Clause statutes in this fashion.

slip opinion, revised 6/28/26
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