Right to Travel: Supreme Court Cases
Key Cases
Crandall v. Nevada, 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 35 (1867)
Struck down state tax on passengers leaving by commercial carrier. Right to travel between states is fundamental right implicit in national citizenship.
Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
Right to travel is “a part of the ’liberty’ of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment.”
Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
Struck down durational residency requirements for welfare benefits as burdening fundamental right of interstate travel. Applied strict scrutiny.
Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County, 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
Struck down durational residency requirements for indigent medical care as penalizing right to travel. Economic access dimension.
Saenz v. Roe, 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
Three components of right to travel:
- Right to enter and leave another state
- Right to be treated as welcome visitor
- Right to be treated equally upon becoming permanent resident
Grounded in Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities Clause.
ID Requirements and Travel
No Supreme Court case directly addresses government-issued ID requirements as barrier to travel rights. Lower courts and scholarship connect economic burdens to travel right infringement under Shapiro/Saenz framework.
Gilmore v. Gonzales (9th Cir., 2006): challenged secret ID requirement for air travel. Court upheld ID-or-search policy as constitutional but acknowledged underlying directive was secret.