Privileges And Immunities Clause now pertain to a citizen of the several States

I wish to point out that the Supreme Court decided in the Slaughterhouse Cases that because of the Fourteenth Amendment there were now two seperate and distinct citizens under the Constitution of the United States; a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the several States:

“We do not conceal from ourselves the great responsibility which this duty devolves upon us. No questions so far reaching and pervading in their consequences, so profoundly interesting to the people of this country, and so important in their bearing upon the relations of the United States and of the several States to each other, and to the citizens of the states and of the United States, have been before this court during the official life of any of its present members. We have given every opportunity for a full hearing at the bar; we have discussed it freely and compared views among ourselves; we have taken ample time for careful deliberation, and we now propose to announce the judgments which we have formed in the construction of those articles, so far as we have found them necessary to the decision of the cases before us, and beyond that we have neither the inclination nor the right to go.” Slaughterhouse Cases: 83 U.S. 36, at 67 (1873). And,

"The next observation is more important in view of the arguments of counsel in the present case. It is, that the distinction between citizenship of the United States and citizenship of a state is clearly recognized and established. . . .

It is quite clear, then, that there is a citizenship of the United States, and a citizenship of a state, which are distinct from each other, and which depend upon different characteristics or circumstances in the individual.

We think this distinction and its explicit recognition in this Amendment of great weight in this argument, because the next paragraph of this same section, which is the one mainly relied on by the plaintiffs in error, speaks only of privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, and does not speak of those of citizens of the several states. The argument, however, in favor of the plaintiffs, rests wholly on the assumption that the citizenship is the same and the privileges and immunities guaranteed by the clause are the same.” Slaughterhouse Cases: 83 U.S. 36, 73-74 (1873).

Being a citizen of the several States is not the same as being a citizen of a state. Privileges and immunities of state citizenship (in general) are to be found in the constitution and laws of the individual state. On the other hand, privileges and immunities of citizenship of the several States are designated in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States:

“The intention of section 2, Article IV (of the Constitution), was to confer on the citizens of the several States a general citizenship, and to communicate all the privileges and immunities which the citizen of the same State would be entitled to under like circumstances.” Cole v. Cunningham: 133 U.S. 107, 113-114 (1890).

Therefore, the Privileges and Immunities Clause in Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States relate to a citizen of the several States.

In addition, the fundamental privileges and immunities described in Corfield v. Coryell by Justice Washington, were applied to a citizen of the several States in the Slaughterhouse Cases (and not a citizen of the United States):

“'The inquiry,' he says, 'is, what are the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several states? We feel no hesitation in confining these expressions to those privileges and immunities which are fundamental; which belong of right to the citizens of all free governments, and which have at all times been enjoyed by citizens of the several States which compose this Union, from the time of their becoming free, independent, and sovereign. What these fundamental principles are, it would be more tedious than difficult to enumerate.’ ‘They may all, however, be comprehended under the following general heads: protection by the government, with the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety, subject, nevertheless, to such restraints as the government may prescribe for the general good of the whole.’” Slaughterhouse Cases: 83 U.S. 36, 75-76 (1873).

Thus, the Privileges and Immunities Clause and Corfield both relate to a citizen of the several States.

There is no problem with the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the problem lies with trying to apply it to the wrong citizen: that is, a citizen of the United States.

FURTHER READINGS:

Dan Goodman, "Slaughterhouse Cases, Two Citizens"; December 1, 2007; The New Media Journal.us at http://therant.us/guest/d_goodman/12012007.htm

Slaughter-House Cases, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse_Cases