Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper - Rights Of Non-residents, The Privileges And Immunities Of United States Citizens, Variety Of Opinions

appellant admission bar law

Appellant

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Appellee

Kathryn A. Piper

Appellant's Claim

That the New Hampshire state law limiting admission to the bar to residents did not violate the Constitution's Privileges and Immunities Clause.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Martin L. Gross

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

Jon Meyer

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger, Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (writing for the Court), John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

4 March 1985

Decision

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that New Hampshire's limiting of bar admission to state residents violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

Significance

The practice of law was held to be a business like any other, protected by the federal guarantee against state-to-state discrimination.

Related Cases

Baldwin v. Montana Fish and Game Commission, 436 U.S. 371 (1978).
Hicklin v. Orbeck, 437 U.S. 518 (1978).

Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper - Rights Of Non-residents

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper was an important states' rights case. At issue were the individual states' abilities to grant privileges to residents that were denied to non-residents. The Supreme Court upheld its ruling that a state must show substantial reason for any difference in treatment between residents and non-residents. Although the New Hampshire Supreme Court argued that suc…

Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper - The Privileges And Immunities Of United States Citizens

Article 4, Section 2 includes a section known as the Privileges and Immunities Clause. One of several items intended at the nation's formation to create a national economic union, the Privileges and Immunities Clause gave citizens of one state the right to conduct business in another state on equal terms with that state's citizens. The clause was not used as commonly as the Commerce Clause, which …

Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper - Variety Of Opinions

The decision was not unanimous. Justice White, while concurring in the result, filed an opinion in which he argued that the residency requirement should be excepted in Piper's particular case, since she lived so near New Hampshire and "would be indistinguishable from other New Hampshire lawyers." But he also expressed his opinion that the case should be decided on those grounds alone. The Court ne…

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