Also known as: privileges and immunities of national citizenship · national privileges or immunities · Privileges or Immunities Clause · national citizenship privileges
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A set of rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause against state abridgment. These rights arise from the relationship of citizens to the national government and include the right to travel throughout the United States and to receive equal treatment as newly arrived residents with respect to public benefits.
Paige Porter moved from State B to State A and applied for welfare benefits six months later. State A limited her payments to the lower amount available in State B during her first year of residency. The durational restriction penalized her exercise of the right to travel by denying equal treatment as a new resident.
Phoebe Park relocated from State C to State D and immediately sought public assistance for her family. State D imposed a one-year residency requirement before granting full benefits at the local level. The policy burdened her national right to travel by conditioning equal access on duration of stay.
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Preston Pratt faced trial in a state court where non-unanimous verdicts were permitted. He argued that the Privileges or Immunities Clause required the full protection of national citizenship rights in criminal proceedings. The claim invoked the clause as a vehicle for incorporating fundamental trial protections.
Pilar Pena refused to answer questions during a state investigation into her business dealings. State officials sought to compel testimony by arguing that the privilege against self-incrimination was not among the rights of national citizenship. The dispute turned on whether the clause extended that protection against state action.
Parker Phillips challenged a federal sentencing guideline as an improper delegation of legislative power. He contended that the Privileges or Immunities Clause limited Congress's ability to transfer core national citizenship protections to administrative bodies. The argument framed the clause as constraining the scope of federal authority.
Philip Powell, an eighteen-year-old citizen, sought to register to vote in a state election. State officials denied the application under a law setting the minimum age at twenty-one. The challenge asserted that the right to vote as an incident of national citizenship barred the age-based exclusion.
The clause protects rights that arise from the relationship of citizens to the national government, such as the right to travel throughout the United States and to receive equal treatment upon establishing residency in a new state. These rights receive absolute protection against state abridgment. The clause does not incorporate the Bill of Rights wholesale against the states.
Supporting sources
The clause protects the right of newly arrived residents to be treated the same as longer-term residents with respect to public benefits. A state law imposing a one-year waiting period or limiting benefits to the level available in the former state violates this protection. The right to travel is a core privilege of national citizenship that states may not penalize through such restrictions.
Supporting sources
The clause has not been interpreted to incorporate the Bill of Rights wholesale. Early cases such as Twining rejected its use for that purpose, and modern doctrine relies primarily on the Due Process Clause for incorporation. The clause instead safeguards a narrower set of rights tied directly to national citizenship.
Supporting sources
…— Chief Justice Rehnquist (with whom Justice Thomas joins) The Court today breathes new life into the previously dormant Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In my view, the majority’s analysis is flawed in several respects. First, the Citizenship Clause does not support the broad right to travel that the majority…