''Crandall v. Nevada'', 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 35 (1868), was a

landmark decision Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly ...

of the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

that affirmed that a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

cannot inhibit people from leaving the state by taxing them. The decision was written by Justice Miller. Chief Justice Chase and Justice Clifford concurred.

Background

In 1867, a

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

statute imposed a $1 tax on every person leaving the state by

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

stage coach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

, or other vehicles engaged or employed in the business of transporting passengers for hire.

Questions Raised

*Does the tax violate Article I, Section 10, in the Declaration of Independence which prohibits state "Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports?" *Is the tax allowed?

Majority Opinion

The Court reasoned that the

right to travel Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...

is a fundamental right. The people of the United States constituting one nation, a State may not impose a tax on a person for the "privilege" of traveling from or for passing through it. The Court stated that a person traveling is different from the transportation of a good, which prevents imposts or duties on a person. The tax was not a prohibited impost, and precedent from '' Cooley v. Board of Wardens'' was cited to show that a tax "does not itself institute any regulation of commerce of a national character...." The Court also used precedent from ''

McCulloch v. Maryland ''McCulloch v. Maryland'', 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that defined the scope of the U.S. Congress's legislative power and how it relates to the powers of American state legislatures. The dispute in ...

''. to show it is the very presence of the tax that is

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

, not how much of a burden it is: "But if the government has these rights on her own account, the citizen also has correlative rights. He has the right to come to the seat of the government... this right is in its nature independent of the will of any State over whose soil he must pass in the exercise of it."

Concurring Opinions

Chief Justice Chase and Justice Clifford concurred by basing their reasoning on the

Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

of the Constitution. They claimed that the tax impeded

interstate commerce The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

References

* *

External links

* * {{caselaw source , case = ''Crandall v. Nevada'', {{ussc, name=, link=, 73, 35, 1868, Wall., 6, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/87885/crandall-v-nevada/ , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/73/35.html , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1583639400005024936 , justia =http://supreme.justia.com/us/73/35/case.html , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep073/usrep073035/usrep073035.pdf , openjurist =https://openjurist.org/73/us/35 1868 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Chase Court United States taxation and revenue case law Legal history of Nevada 1868 in Nevada

Background

Questions Raised

Majority Opinion

Concurring Opinions

See also

References

External links