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November 5, 2024 | SCOTUS Clarifies Standard for Retaliatory Arrest Claims
United States Constitution
PREAMBLE : We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
Article IV: Privileges and Immunities Clause
Text of Constitution:
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The 'Travis Translation' of Constitution:
Citizens of each State will have all the advantages and protection of citizens in the other states.
Following thematically from the Full Faith and Credit Clause, the Privileges and Immunities also guides interactions among the states. Though the text of the clause may appear ambiguous – and has been the source of some confusion in cases throughout the centuries – the Privileges and Immunities Clause (not to be confused with the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment) prohibits states from treating residents from other states differently than residents of that state.
This clause is similar in some respects to the Dormant Commerce Clause, which prohibits states from making protectionist laws against other states as entities. Here, the Constitution forbids states from treating other states’ citizens differently. For example, in Toomer v. Witsell (1948), South Carolina was charging a $2,500 fee for out-of-state shrimp boaters to do business in the state, while it only charged South Carolina residents a fee of $25. The Supreme Court then held that this action violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause. The state could not discriminate against out-of-staters merely for being from out of state.
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