Cohens v. Virginia

19 U.S. (6 Wheat.) 264 (1821)

Cohens lived in DC, which had a lottery.  He tried to sell tickets in Virginia and got arrested, since lotteries were illegal in Virginia.  Since DC was ruled by Congress, the DC lottery had the weight of Federal Law.  Virginia convicted Cohens and appealed to the US Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court affirmed the decision, but only on the grounds that the DC lottery was not authorized in Virginia.  Virginia had argued that, under the 11th Amendment their decisions were unreviewable.  Supreme Court disagreed, and basically affirmed the Martin v. Hunter's Lessee decision.