Excellent news. In a case pitting a Nevada resident against the bureaucrats of the state of California, the Supreme Court has confirmed that Nevada does indeed hate California and needs to knock it off:
Nevada has not applied the principles of Nevada law ordinarily applicable to suits against Nevada’s own agencies. Rather, it has applied a special rule of law
applicable only in lawsuits against its sister States, such as California.
….The Nevada Supreme Court explained its departure from those general principles by describing California’s system of controlling its own agencies as failing to provide “adequate” recourse to Nevada’s citizens….Such an explanation, which amounts to little more than a conclusory statement disparaging California’s own legislative, judicial, and administrative controls, cannot justify the application of a special and discriminatory rule. Rather, viewed through a full faith and credit lens, a State that disregards its own ordinary legal principles on this ground is hostile to another State.
….We can safely conclude that, in devising a special—and hostile—rule for California, Nevada has not “sensitively applied principles of comity with a healthy regard for California’s sovereign status.”
The case itself doesn’t matter much. An inventor moved to Nevada and then sued California when it harassed him for back taxes. Nevada normally limits these judgments to $50,000 even if you win, but as long as you’re suing California, it turns out the sky’s the limit. The Supreme Court was not amused. Nevada can’t do that just because they think poorly of California’s laws.
But all is forgiven now. Come to the beach and relax, Nevadans! Don’t let the dark side consume you.
