Also known as: immune · immunities · immunized · immunizing · sovereign immunity · qualified immunity
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An exemption from a duty, liability, or compulsion to testify or act, conferred by law on the basis of constitutional provision, official status, family relationship, or property interest.
Ibrahim Iqbal moves from State X to State Y and applies for welfare benefits. State Y limits his payments to the lower amount he received in State X for his first year of residence. Iqbal sues, claiming the restriction abridges his rights as a newly arrived citizen. The court holds that the limitation violates the privileges or immunities protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Icarus Aviation orally agrees with a landowner to place equipment on a defined parcel for an extended period in exchange for usage fees. The company builds permanent structures and pays monthly. When the landowner later seeks to revoke the arrangement, the court determines that the deal created an interest in land that includes an immunity from revocation under property law principles.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ines Ibarra arrives in a new state and is told she must wait one year for full welfare benefits. She challenges the rule as discriminating against new residents. The court strikes down the waiting period because it burdens the constitutional right to travel and treats new citizens unequally under the Fourteenth Amendment.
India Inoue is married to a defendant in a criminal case. Prosecutors subpoena her to testify about events during the marriage. She invokes spousal immunity. The court rules that she cannot be compelled to testify because the privilege belongs to the witness spouse in federal court and applies even to pre-marriage matters.
Isaiah Ishikawa is unconscious after an accident and brought to a hospital. The physician performs an immediate procedure necessary to save his life without prior consent. The patient later sues for battery. The court finds the physician immune from liability because the circumstances created a privilege to act without consent.
Ike Ingram, a licensed attorney from State A, seeks admission to practice in State B under reciprocity rules. State B denies the application based solely on his nonresident status. Ingram sues, asserting that the residency requirement violates his rights as a citizen of another state. The court holds that the barrier infringes the privileges and immunities guaranteed by Article IV.
Spousal immunity may be invoked only during a valid marriage. It can still be asserted even as to matters that occurred before the marriage took place.
Supporting sources
Yes. The clause, together with equal protection principles under the Fourteenth Amendment, protects newly arrived residents from discriminatory treatment such as reduced welfare benefits or waiting periods that longer-term residents do not face.
Supporting sources
Any right, privilege, power, or immunity that qualifies as an interest in land under property law and is not goods under the UCC falls within the statute. This includes arrangements that confer lasting privileges or immunities from revocation on specific parcels.
Supporting sources
…not. Pp. 123-129. (a) The normal rule of federal standing is that a litigant may assert only his own constitutional rights or immunities. The rule has no application where, as here, the plaintiff is himself or herself the immediate object of the challenged statute. Pp. 123-129. (b) The Does' complaint based on their own and…