# Banished from a state? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873 "2012-05-14T11:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/1 "2012-05-14T11:48:51Z")
While preparing for the annual Mother’s Day feast, someone had switched on Oxygen’s “Snapped” on the TV. I didn’t pay attention until I walked by the end of the “Jocelyn Dooley” episode while the end title cards were on. A card stated that one of the people involved was banished from the state [Louisiana]. I don’t know if this was an exaggeration, but could that actually happen to someone now or ever in the past in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/2 "2012-05-14T12:29:04Z")
Not sure, but I have heard it is possible to get banished from the Woolworth’s! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/3 "2012-05-14T12:48:34Z")
I’ve heard of people getting strongly advised by a judge or state trooper not to come back, but that’s about it. My nephew lost his Vegas privileges, but I don’t think it applies to the whole state… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/4 "2012-05-14T12:56:00Z")
One of my dads claims to have been banned from Wisconsin due to some truly stupid driving which got him two nights in the local jail and a police escort to the Illinois border as a young man. I’m not sure if he’s been pulling our legs all these years, but I do notice that he’s never come with us when we go too far north. But I think last time this question came up, it was determined that while a judge can order you out of a state as a condition of parole or sentencing, there’s got to be some time limit in effect. Permanent ban from a state appears to be unconstitutional, but permanent ban from a city, absent a compelling need for the defendant to be in that city, has been upheld. It’s all kinds of ugly, but here’s the old archived thread I was thinking of: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-392709.html](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-392709.html) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/5 "2012-05-14T15:17:36Z")
The “right to travel” is still one of the few “rights and privileges” that SCOTUS did not gut with the Slaughterhouse Cases. Considering that Arizona was recently banned from barring illegal immigrants from their state I would say that ultimately a banishment from a state would be founf to be unconstitutional. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/6 "2012-05-14T16:03:49Z")
At one point when I was applying for a job with the Houston DA’s office I sat in on a few cases - they’d occasionally offer better plea deals on the condition that the individual in question would skip town afterwards. Then they’d make a note to that effect in the file jacket. If they showed back up again they wouldn’t get dealt with so lightly, but as far as I know there wasn’t any official way to enforce the revocation of Houston privileges, nor was anyone interested in doing it. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/7 "2012-05-14T16:04:03Z")
> [@Jormungandr](#): > > While preparing for the annual Mother’s Day feast, someone had switched on Oxygen’s “Snapped” on the TV. I didn’t pay attention until I walked by the end of the “Jocelyn Dooley” episode while the end title cards were on. A card stated that one of the people involved was banished from the state [Louisiana]. I don’t know if this was an exaggeration, but could that actually happen to someone now or ever in the past in the U.S.? Banishment, another term, Deportation. When an illegal alien is deported s/he is banished. Some state constitution’s forbid it, just like Imprisonment for a civil debt. Remember the Loving v. Virginia case that went to the US SC? They were ordered banned from Virginia for 25 years in exchange for no prison sentence. If your State constitution/case law does not forbid it, as long as federal Due Process is satisfied when executing it, it is legal. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/8 "2012-05-14T16:11:02Z")
Here’s a recent [case](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-30-georgia_N.htm) holding that complete banishment from a state is probably unconstitutional, but upholding a parole condition limiting a person to living in only one county of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/9 "2012-05-14T16:27:50Z")
You may not be “banished” from a state, but a lot of states have no statute of limitations for things like traffic tickets. So of you got 10 speeding tickets that you never paid, and you show up in that state and get stopped on the highway for some reason, you’re in trouble. You may have several outstanding warrants for arrest for failure to appear, and the interest on the fines has probably grown quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/10 "2012-05-14T16:28:59Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Here’s a recent [case](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-30-georgia_N.htm) holding that complete banishment from a state is probably unconstitutional, but upholding a parole condition limiting a person to living in only one county of the state. Here is that GA SC ruling, and at par. 3, he cites the GA Constitution as a ban on bans, for a play on words, ha! [http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-supreme-court/1286181.html](http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-supreme-court/1286181.html) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/11 "2012-05-14T16:43:16Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The “right to travel” is still one of the few “rights and privileges” that SCOTUS did not gut with the Slaughterhouse Cases. Considering that Arizona was recently banned from barring illegal immigrants from their state I would say that ultimately a banishment from a state would be founf to be unconstitutional. Arizona was not “banned from barring illegal immigrants from their state.” The right to travel, like all civil liberties, could constitutionally be curtailed as a criminal penalty. However, a state could not constitutionally expel one its own citizens, for obvious reasons (vis-a-vis its relationship with other states). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/12 "2012-05-14T16:52:17Z")
I was banished from a county in one of the states. I don’t know if it was binding, but a judge told me never to come back. I ignored him. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/13 "2012-05-14T16:53:02Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > You may not be “banished” from a state, but a lot of states have no statute of limitations for things like traffic tickets. So of you got 10 speeding tickets that you never paid, and you show up in that state and get stopped on the highway for some reason, you’re in trouble. You may have several outstanding warrants for arrest for failure to appear, and the interest on the fines has probably grown quite a bit. Yes, I know someone who voluntarily avoids Oregon, taking theroundabout way from Boise via Utah to California because she owes too much in speeding tickets in Oregon. far from being banned, she would be welcomed with open door (at least til she got inside) if they found her in the state. I wonder if they can impound your car until you pay up? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/14 "2012-05-14T17:02:00Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Yes, I know someone who voluntarily avoids Oregon, taking theroundabout way from Boise via Utah to California because she owes too much in speeding tickets in Oregon. far from being banned, she would be welcomed with open door (at least til she got inside) if they found her in the state. I wonder if they can impound your car until you pay up? Don’t know about every state, but I think they can usually impound\* you\* and the car. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/15 "2012-05-14T17:11:23Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Yes, I know someone who voluntarily avoids Oregon, taking theroundabout way from Boise via Utah to California because she owes too much in speeding tickets in Oregon. far from being banned, she would be welcomed with open door (at least til she got inside) if they found her in the state. I wonder if they can impound your car until you pay up? Only if she is arrested. Vehicle tows by police are oultined by specific state law. You can not tow a car for unpaid fines alone. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/16 "2012-05-14T17:17:15Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Only if she is arrested. Vehicle tows by police are oultined by specific state law. You can not tow a car for unpaid fines alone. Unpaid fines usually mean failure to appear in court. Failure to appear leads to warrant for arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/17 "2012-05-14T17:20:06Z")
Marilyn Manson was banned from Utah and South Carolina. Well, technically he was only banned from performing in venues operated by the state. But it sounds cooler to say he was banned from the whole state. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/18 "2012-05-14T17:24:02Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Unpaid fines usually mean failure to appear in court. Failure to appear leads to warrant for arrest. No doubt there is Bench Warrant out, yes. The Driver’s License Compact usually will make getting a DL in the non violated state hard, that is if OR reported the info to all members. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/19 "2012-05-14T17:34:42Z")
Digressing at bit… I always thought it odd when the conditions of someone’s parole were that they _couldn’t_ leave the state. I’da thought they’d be glad to be rid of the parolee. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873/20 "2012-05-14T17:41:23Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Digressing at bit… I always thought it odd when the conditions of someone’s parole were that they _couldn’t_ leave the state. I’da thought they’d be glad to be rid of the parolee. Conditions of parole are different from conditions of sentence or no sentence, as in the Loving case I mentioned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banished-from-a-state/621873.md?page=2)