Williams v. Fears
Citations
- 179 U.S. 270
- 21 S. Ct. 128
- 45 L. Ed. 186
- 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1867
Syllabus
<p>By a general revenue act of the State of Georgia, a specific tax was levied upon many occupations, including that of “emigrant agent,” meaning a person engaged in hiring laborers to be employed beyond the limits of the State. Held that the levy of the tax did not amount to such an interference with the freedom of transit, or of contract, as to violate the Federal Constitution.</p> <p>Nor was the objection tenable that the equal protection of the laws was ■ denied because the business of hiring persons to labor within the State was not subjected to a like tax.</p> <p>The imposition of the tax fell within the distinction between interstate commerce, or an instrumentality thereof, and the mere incidents which may attend the .carrying on of such commerce. These labor contracts' were not in themselves subjects of traffic between the States, nor was the business of hiring laborers so immediately connected with interstate transportation or interstate traffic that it could correctly be said that those who followed it were engaged in interstate commerce, or that the tax on that occupation constituted a burden on such commerce.</p>
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- finding that “the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any state is a right secured by the 14th Amendment”
- indicating that the “right of locomotion,” like the “right to contract,” is protected by substantive due process
- Constitution protects right to travel locally through public spaces and roadways
- Constitution protects right to travel locally through public spaces and roadways
- “Undoubtedly the right of locomotion … is an attrib- ute of personal liberty, and the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any state is a right secured by the 14th Amendment and by other provisions of the Constitution.”
- “[T]he right to remove from one place to another according to inclination, is an attribute of personal liberty, and the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any state is a right secured by the 14th Amendment and by other provisions of the Constitution.”
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Fuller, Harlan
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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