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The Daily Insight Hub

Can states treat citizens of other states differently?

Author

Andrew Campbell

Updated on January 25, 2026

The Privileges and Immunities Clause (U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the Comity Clause) prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner. Additionally, a right of interstate travel is associated with the clause.

What 3 constitutional provisions are aimed at promoting cooperation among states?

The three constitutional provisions that are aimed at promoting cooperation among the states are give “full faith and credit” to the laws, records, and court decisions of other states give each other’s citizens all the “privileges and immunities” of their own citizens, and extradite criminals and fugitives who flee …

What reasonable distinctions are states allowed to make between their own residents and residents of another state?

states cannot draw unreasonable distinctions between their own residents and residents of other states. the legal process by which a fugitive from justice in one state is returned to that state. no state can draw unreasonable distinctions between its own residents and those persons who happen to live in other states.

What are 2 exceptions to the full faith and credit clause?

What are two exceptions to the Full Faith and Credit Clause? Civil laws apply to their own states. The State where person has residency can confirm or deny a divorce. Who is in charge of extradition?

What section is the United States must protect each state against invasion?

Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Can states discriminate based on residency?

The Supreme Court got the message. States cannot discriminate against Americans on the basis of residency, not even when it comes to booze: that’s a key principle underlying and pervading our constitutional structure, and it’s a big part of what makes the United States “united.”

What is Article 4 of the Constitution called?

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”

What does Article 4 Section 3 of the Constitution mean?

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Can states deny residency?

Where a residency requirement does not serve compelling state interests, it will be held unconstitutional as a denial of equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Constitution.

What can citizens in some states do if they do not like a state law?

Initiative – A way citizens can bypass the legislature and pass laws or amend the state constitution through a direct vote. Referendum – A way citizens can approve of statutes or constitutional changes proposed by the legislature through a direct vote.

Are there federal laws that apply to all states?

Federal laws are generally applicable in the same way across all state borders. However, under constitutional laws, states are allowed to create, implement, and enforce their own laws in additional to federal laws.

Why are there distinctions between residents and nonresidents?

“Some distinctions between residents and nonresidents merely reflect the fact that this is a Nation composed of individual States, and are permitted; other distinctions are prohibited because they hinder the formation, the purpose, or the development of a single Union of those States.

Can a state deprive a citizen of his rights?

Federal statutes prohibiting conspiracies to deprive any person of rights or privileges secured by state laws, 173 or punishing infractions by individuals of the right of citizens to reside peacefully in the several states and to have free ingress into and egress from such states, 174 have been held void.

Can a state discriminate against a citizen of another state?

This theory, too, the Court rejected. 164 Fourth, the clause merely forbids any state to discriminate against citizens of other states in favor of its own. It is this narrow interpretation that has become the settled one.