Supreme Court of Virginia v. Friedman (1987)
- Docket
- 87-399
- Decided
- 1987-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the Virginia law violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Constitution? Conclusion: In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that Virginia's residency requirement was unconstitutional. The Court held that "'one of the privileges which the Clause guarantees to citizens of State A is that of doing business in State B on terms of substantial equality with the citizens of that State,'" and that the practice of law was sufficiently basic to the economy to be deemed a privilege protected by the Clause. The Court found that the regulation discriminated among otherwise equally qualified applicants solely on the basis of residency, failing to bear a close relation to a substantial state interest.