Elizabeth Jo
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
The clause prevents states from discriminating against citizens from other states in favor of their own.
So that's true for many, but not all situations.
Some of the most important legal cases here have focused on things like state residency requirements, that you have to live in a state for a certain time to receive some kind of benefit.
And states usually can't interfere with what are considered fundamental rights that are recognized under the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
A good example is that the Supreme Court has said, you know, your right to pursue an occupation is something that's protected by this clause.
But states do have some latitude.
They can discriminate against out-of-staters for important reasons.
That's why you can't go to another state and just say, hey, I have the right to vote in your election.
You can't because...
The state has a good reason to keep voters only to the people who are within the state.
So this part of Article 4 isn't too much in dispute.
It's not very controversial.
Next, the second clause here, which says a person charged in any state with treason, felony or other crime who shall flee from justice and be found in another state shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
This is known as the extradition clause, and it applies when a person is accused of a crime in one state.
and then flees to another.
So the extradition clause recognizes that the governor of one state can demand from the other state that the person be forcibly sent back.
Again, it's not too controversial, but again, this shows us another aspect in which Article 4 is about requiring, encouraging, making sure that the states play nice with one another because that's how the system should be run instead of the states fighting against each other, discriminating against each other's citizens, or just not cooperating in some important things like criminal justice.
So third clause, and that is the fugitive slave clause.