Torres v. Tex. Dep't of Pub. Safety

Torres v. Tex. Dep't of Pub. Safety

Opinion

 [*2460]  Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

] The Constitution vests in [***8]  Congress the power “[t]o raise and support Armies” and “[t]o provide and maintain a Navy.” Art. I, §8, cls. 1, 12-13. Pursuant to that authority, Congress enacted a federal law that gives returning veterans the right to reclaim their prior jobs with state  [**817]  employers and authorizes suit if those employers refuse to accommodate them. See Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), 38 U. S. C. §4301 et seq. This case asks whether States may invoke sovereign immunity as a legal defense to block such suits.

In our view, they cannot. Upon entering the Union, the States implicitly agreed that their sovereignty would yield to federal policy to build and keep a national military. States thus gave up their immunity from congressionally authorized suits pursuant to the “‘plan of the Convention,’” as part of “‘the structure of the original Constitution itself.’” PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, 594 U. S. ___, ___, 141 S. Ct. 2244, 210 L. Ed. 2d 624, 641 (2021) (quoting Alden v. Maine, 527 U. S. 706, 728, 119 S. Ct. 2240, 144 L. Ed. 2d 636 (1999)).

] Congress has “broad and sweeping” power “to raise and support armies.” United States v. O’Brien, 391 U. S. 367, 377, 88 S. Ct. 1673, 20 L. Ed. 2d 672 (1968). It has long exercised that power to encourage service in the Armed Forces in a variety of ways. See, e.g., Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U. S. 47, 58, 126 S. Ct. 1297, 164 L. Ed. 2d 156 (2006) (campus recruiting); Johnson v. Robison, 415 U. S. 361, 376, 94 S. Ct. 1160, 39 L. Ed. 2d 389 (1974) (educational benefits). Since before the United States’ entry into World War II, Congress has sought, in particular, to smooth volunteers’ reentry into civilian life by recognizing veterans’ [***9]  “right to return to civilian employment without adverse effect on . . . career progress” in the federal work force and private employment. H. R. Rep. No. 105-448, p. 2 (1998); see Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, §§8(b)(A)-(B), (e), 54 Stat. 890, 891 (damages remedy against private employers).

The Vietnam War prompted Congress to extend these protections to employment by States. Amidst political opposition to the war, “some State and local jurisdictions ha[d] demonstrated a reluctance, and even  [*2461]  an unwillingness, to reemploy” returning servicemembers. S. Rep. No. 93-907, p. 110 (1974). So Congress authorized private damages suits against States to ensure that “veterans who [had] previously held jobs as school teachers, policemen, firemen, and other State, county, and city employees” would not be denied their old jobs as reprisal for their service. Ibid. The statute at issue, USERRA, embodies these protections today.

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