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Privileges and Immunities Clause
| Federalism |
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| •Key terms • Court cases •Major arguments • State responses to federal mandates • Federalism by the numbers • Index of articles about federalism |
The Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution refers to a provision of Article Four, Section Two that protects the fundamental rights of individuals and prevents states from discriminating against citizens from other states.[1]
Text of the Privileges and Immunities Clause
- See also: United States Constitution
The Privileges and Immunities Clause is found in Article Four, Section Two of the U.S. Constitution:
| “ | The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. [2] | ” |
| —U.S. Constitution[1] | ||
Background
- See also: The Federalist No. 42
The purpose of the Privileges and Immunities Clause is to protect citizens from unequal treatment by Congress or different state governments and to guarantee citizens their fundamental rights. James Madison in The Federalist No. 42 described how the clause prevents states from discriminating against citizens of other states:
| “ | It seems to be a construction scarcely avoidable, however, that those who come under the denomination of FREE INHABITANTS of a State, although not citizens of such State, are entitled, in every other State, to all the privileges of FREE CITIZENS of the latter; that is, to greater privileges than they may be entitled to in their own State: so that it may be in the power of a particular State, or rather every State is laid under a necessity, not only to confer the rights of citizenship in other States upon any whom it may admit to such rights within itself, but upon any whom it may allow to become inhabitants within its jurisdiction. [2] | ” |
| —James Madison[3] | ||
The majority opinion in Corfield v. Coryell (1823) later outlined a list of fundamental rights that are protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause, including the right to travel between states:[4][5]
| “ | Protection by the Government; the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety; subject nevertheless to such restraints as the government must justly prescribe for the general good of the whole. The right of a citizen of one State to pass through, or to reside in any other State, for purposes of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, or otherwise; to claim the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus; to institute and maintain actions of any kind in the courts of the State; to take, hold and dispose of property, either real or personal; and an exemption from higher taxes or impositions than are paid by the other citizens of the State [2] | ” |
| —Corfield v. Coryell[4] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Legal Information Institute, "Privileges and Immunities Clause," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Yale Law School, "The Federalist Papers: No. 42," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Justia, "Interstate Comity," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ LexisNexis, "Corfield v. Coryell - 6 F. Cas. 546, 1823 U.S. App. LEXIS 239, 4 Wash. C. C. 371," accessed July 7, 2022
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