Case Details

Issues

Control Of Litigation, Parens Patriae

Filing State

PR

Court

U.S. Supreme Court

Year

1982

Citation

Alfred Snapp and Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico, 458 U.S. 592 (1982)

Resolution

Puerto Rico could sue as parens patriae on behalf of 900 of its citizens, alleging violations of federal employment and immigration laws, because it had a “quasi-sovereign” interest in the employment of its citizens.

Case Description

To pursue a claim as parens patriae for its citizens, the Supreme Court held that “The state must demonstrate (1) a quasi-sovereign interest and (2) “more . . . than injury to an identifiable group of individual residents.” The requisite quasi-sovereign interest may lie in the state’s interest in the physical and economic health and well-being of its citizens, or it may lie in the state’s interest in “not being discriminatorily denied its rightful status within the federal system.”