Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corp. · ¶33

Resting on the frmly established rule that municipal corporations and counties are not arms of the State, the Court in Mt. Healthy City Bd. of Ed. v. Doyle, 429 U. S. 274 (1977), framed the arm-of-the-State inquiry as asking whether an entity is “more like a county or city” than “like an arm of the State.” Id., at 280. In answering that question for the entity at issue, a local school board, the Court examined the characteristics of the board under state law. It observed that the board was created as a “ `political subdivisio[n]' ” distinct from the “ `State,' ” that it had powers to issue bonds and levy taxes, and that it received money and guidance from the State. Ibid. Those characteristics led the Court to conclude that the board was “more like a county or city” and thus not entitled to immunity. Id., at 280–281.

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