The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCDPR) challenging a lower court ruling that found the state had waived sovereign immunity by participating in a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google.

The case stems from a broader federal antitrust action against Google, which South Carolina had sought to join under the doctrine of parens patriae, wherein a government can intervene to protect the interests of its population. In that case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Google. With penalties pending, the tech giant sought documents from South Carolina state agencies as part of its defense.

The Fourth Circuit had previously upheld a trial court decision that South Carolina waived its Eleventh Amendment protections against subpoenas by participating in the federal lawsuit. The court noted that South Carolina had directed Google to seek documents from individual agencies, making it “fundamentally unfair” to later claim immunity.

SCDPR’s petition argued that waiver of sovereign immunity should be limited to specific litigation stakes and claimed the Fourth Circuit’s ruling contradicted other circuits’ precedents on state agency autonomy.

Google countered that SCDPR misinterpreted federal litigation consent principles and established federalism jurisprudence. The company argued that allowing states to shield agencies despite participating in federal suits would enable potential abuse of sovereign immunity protections.

The Supreme Court’s rejection of the petition leaves the Fourth Circuit’s ruling intact, reinforcing that states waive Eleventh Amendment protections when joining federal litigation.