Also in 1793, the new U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision named ''Chisholm v. Georgia''. It allowed, for the first time, a lawsuit to be filed against a state in the new federal courts by a citizen of ''a different'' state. This outraged the states and was considered an "activist" decision by the Supreme Court, because it subjected a state to the judicial power of the new national government. Within two years Congress passed and more than 3/4 of the states ratified the [[Eleventh Amendment]] to the Constitution specifically to overturn this decision. This illustrated a type of "check and balance" on Supreme Court power: the power of the People to amend the Constitution to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Including the Bill of Rights, there have been a total of 27 amendments to the Constitution, a few of which were motivated by a desire to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Notice that Congress cannot overrule the Supreme Court if the Court bases its decision in the Constitution itself; an amendment to the Constitution is then the only way to overrule a Supreme Court decision that is based in the Constitution. | Also in 1793, the new U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision named ''Chisholm v. Georgia''. It allowed, for the first time, a lawsuit to be filed against a state in the new federal courts by a citizen of ''a different'' state. This outraged the states and was considered an "activist" decision by the Supreme Court, because it subjected a state to the judicial power of the new national government. Within two years Congress passed and more than 3/4 of the states ratified the [[Eleventh Amendment]] to the Constitution specifically to overturn this decision. This illustrated a type of "check and balance" on Supreme Court power: the power of the People to amend the Constitution to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Including the Bill of Rights, there have been a total of 27 amendments to the Constitution, a few of which were motivated by a desire to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Notice that Congress cannot overrule the Supreme Court if the Court bases its decision in the Constitution itself; an amendment to the Constitution is then the only way to overrule a Supreme Court decision that is based in the Constitution. |