Also known as: Privileges and Immunities Clause · Privileges or Immunities Clause · Article IV Privileges and Immunities · Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Constitutional provisions that shield citizens from state discrimination regarding fundamental rights of citizenship. The Article IV clause requires each state to extend to citizens of other states the same privileges and immunities it affords its own citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment clause safeguards a narrow set of rights inherent in national citizenship against state abridgment.
Perry Pratt moved from State A to State B to take a job and immediately applied for state welfare benefits. State B awarded him only the lower amount he would have received in State A and imposed a one-year waiting period for full benefits. The restriction treated him differently from longer-term residents solely because of his recent arrival from another state.
Pamela Phillips, licensed in State A, sought admission to the State B bar without establishing residency. State B rejected her application on the ground that nonresidents would not keep current with local rules or perform pro bono work. The rule excluded her from practicing law in State B on the basis of her out-of-state citizenship.
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Priscilla Parks, a resident of State A, applied for reciprocal admission in State B under a program that required applicants to maintain their principal office in State B. State B denied the application because she kept her office in State A. The residency condition blocked her from practicing law across state lines on equal terms with State B residents.
Patrick Phan, a citizen of State A who had just moved to State B, was arrested by State B officers acting under color of state law. He sued the officers in federal court under federal civil rights law alleging that the arrest violated rights protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clauses. The suit proceeded because the clauses supply a basis for challenging state action that discriminates against new residents.
Phoebe Park, a citizen of State A visiting State B on business, was served with process while temporarily present in State B. She challenged the court's jurisdiction on the ground that the service interfered with her privileges as a citizen of another state under the Privileges and Immunities Clauses. The court upheld jurisdiction because transient presence supplies a traditional basis for personal jurisdiction that does not violate the clauses.
Paul Peterson, a citizen of State A, was prosecuted in State B under a procedure that denied him a right he claimed was protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. He argued that the right was an attribute of national citizenship that State B could not abridge. The court rejected the claim because the Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities Clause protects only a limited set of national rights and does not incorporate most Bill of Rights guarantees.
No. A corporation is not a citizen within the meaning of the clause, so states may regulate or exclude foreign corporations without violating Article IV. The clause applies only to natural persons who are citizens of other states.
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It protects fundamental rights such as the right to pursue a livelihood, engage in a common calling, travel, contract, and own property on equal terms with residents of the forum state. Residency requirements that discriminate against nonresidents in these areas are invalid absent substantial justification.
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Yes when the benefit is tied to the pursuit of a livelihood or fundamental right. A state may not limit welfare or employment-related grants to prior residents or impose durational waiting periods that penalize recent arrivals from other states.
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…is free to travel on the State's roads and water-ways; he likely enjoys the fruits of the State's economy as well. Moreover, the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV prevents a state government from discriminating against a transient defendant by denying him the protections of its law or the right of access to its courts.[^maj-12] See…