Top court says 1 state can’t be sued in other state’s courts

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court decided Monday that one state cannot unwillingly be sued in the courts of another, overruling a 40-year precedent and perhaps, foreshadowing an argument over the viability of other high court decisions.

The justices divided 5-4 to end a long-running dispute between California officials and Nevada inventor Gilbert Hyatt.

Hyatt is a former California resident who sued California’s tax agency for being too zealous in seeking back taxes from him. Hyatt won a judgment in Nevada courts.

But Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court’s conservative justices that the Constitution forbids states from opening the doors of their courts to a private citizen’s lawsuit against another state. In 1979, the high court concluded otherwise. Student loan obligations: The U.S. government stepped up collections on delinquent student debt to $2.9 billion last year — or an average of $1,000 from 2.9 million former students and their cosigners, according to the Treasury Department.

And the trend continues.

In the first six months of fiscal 2019, which started Oct. 1, collections totaled $3.3 billion.

Graduating students are usually granted a sixmonth grace period before they are expected to begin making loan payments.

Hypothetically, a member of the Class of 2019 with $50,000 in loans would owe about $550 per month over the next decade — or $20 daily, assuming 6% annual interest and a 10-year term.