# Could A State Pass A Law Forbidding Residents To Move Out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456 "2009-03-05T23:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/1 "2009-03-05T23:35:51Z")
Yeah, I know it would never happen in real life. This is all purely theoretical. New York is currently experiencing a big budget crunch. The state is billions of dollars short for next year’s budget. One solution often mentioned is to “tax the rich.” The counter to that is that if you tax the rich too much, they’ll simply leave. As I said above, I know it will never happen in real life - but I was wondering. What if New York passed a law stating that it’s residents are not allowed to move permanently out of the state – and that if they, in fact, do leave, New York would still be considered their state of residence (and possibly subject to arrest upon returning to the state). Of course the idea is idiotic – I grant you that. But then again, with the New York legislature you never know… But in any event, is there any federal law or anything in the Constitution that would prohibit such a law from being passed (and not struck down by the courts)? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/2 "2009-03-05T23:41:06Z")
> **[Freedom of movement | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement#United_States)** > > Freedom of movement under United States law is governed primarily by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution which states, "The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States." As far back as the circuit court ruling in Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546 (1823), freedom of movement has been judicially recognized as a fundamental Constitutional right. In Paul v. Virginia, 75 U.S. 168 (1869), the Court def... ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/3 "2009-03-05T23:46:45Z")
That was quick. Thank you Richard. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/4 "2009-03-06T00:40:51Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/5 "2009-03-06T00:58:32Z")
Wasn’t there some crazy stuff going on a few years ago, though, where something like investigators from a New York State or NYC tax bureau were going to New Jersey and writing down NY license plate numbers for cars parked at malls there, presumably to penalize people who weren’t contributing sales taxes in their home state? Or something like that. It’s a bit odd to think of going to another state to do your shopping. Back home I’d have to drive 5+ hours to do that. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/6 "2009-03-06T01:49:51Z")
IIRC, Ohio once set up a spy operation on a high volume liquor emporium in Indiana; Ohio officers could see the parking lot of the Indiana shop and could photograph Ohio license plates on cars presumably buying lower taxed Indiana liquor for import into Ohio. IIRC, there was actually some very old and rarely enforced law that permitted the state of Ohio to impose an import tariff on such liquor. Cars whose license plates were photographed in the Indiana parking lot were stopped and inspected; tariffs or duties were imposed as well as fines; again, IIRC. I don’t recall what the upshot was but there was talk of rebellion, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/7 "2009-03-06T02:07:32Z")
Under current law and socioeconomic circumstances, absolutely not. In some grave future national crisis, where there really was no other alternative, I could mayyyyyyyyyyyyybe see it happen, but it seems extremely unlikely. Incidentally, I once read a historian suggest that gasoline rationing had that effect in WW2, and that Uncle Sam was not entirely displeased with the result. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/8 "2009-03-06T02:47:42Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > IIRC, Ohio once set up a spy operation on a high volume liquor emporium in Indiana; Ohio officers could see the parking lot of the Indiana shop and could photograph Ohio license plates on cars presumably buying lower taxed Indiana liquor for import into Ohio. IIRC, there was actually some very old and rarely enforced law that permitted the state of Ohio to impose an import tariff on such liquor. Cars whose license plates were photographed in the Indiana parking lot were stopped and inspected; tariffs or duties were imposed as well as fines; again, IIRC. I don’t recall what the upshot was but there was talk of rebellion, etc, etc. Also isn’t there something about importing contraband cigararettes that lack a given state’s duty stamps? I think I saw that on the Dukes of Hazzard once. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/9 "2009-03-06T03:46:20Z")
Well, but those examples are not about restricting \*\*your \*\*movement, they’re about enforcing the law that says that if you acquire certain goods for use in your home state, you owe a tax to that state. If you actually MOVE from Ohio to Indiana or Maryland to Delaware, you’re in the clear. The federal polity, a.k.a. the USA, though, DOES make so that as long as you’ve not relinquished US citizenship, you are liable for US income taxes, even if you live and earn your money abroad, and takes a very, very close look at any emigré with a net worth greater than $500K. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/10 "2009-03-06T13:14:34Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The federal polity, a.k.a. the USA, though, DOES make so that as long as you’ve not relinquished US citizenship, you are liable for US income taxes, even if you live and earn your money abroad, and takes a very, very close look at any emigré with a net worth greater than $500K. If you do relinquish citizenship and try to move your assets out of the country, are there any restrictions on that? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/11 "2009-03-06T13:17:53Z")
What an interesting cite. This part: > [@](#): > > For example, the Supreme Court overturned state prohibitions on welfare payments to individuals who had not resided within the jurisdiction for at least one year as an impermissible burden on the right to travel (Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969)). The Court has also struck down one-year residency requirements for voting in state elections (Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330 (1972)), one-year waiting periods before receiving state-provided medical care (Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County, 415 U.S. 250 (1974)), Make me wonder - isn’t there a year’s residency requirement on Alaska Permanent Fund payouts? Could these decisions be cited as preceent to overturn that and force Alaska to pay people who just moved in? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/12 "2009-03-06T14:00:32Z")
It’s ludicrous to think that a state will not pass the most restrictive of laws, and get it approved by the Supreme Court at some time or another. Twenty years ago, who would have thought that there would be so many laws limiting the expression of free speech, in the name of ‘hate speech’ that there are today? Sixty years ago, who would have thought that we would have had the freedom of speech that we had twenty years ago? People will sit still for anything if it’s wrapped nicely. There will probably be some kind of inter-state travel restrictions, requiring the use of passports of some type, citing loss of tax revenues/tax fraud, and ‘contraband trafficking’ as the stimulus for the bill, in the near future. ( Probably because ‘the children are losing educational revenue. And the streets, roads, etc…’) This was required in the Soviet Union, IIRC, in the 1920s. Nobody really kicked about it. Or, if they did, nobody paid attention. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/13 "2009-03-06T14:06:33Z")
We are not, thank God, the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Nor are we anywhere close to it. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/14 "2009-03-06T14:26:31Z")
The township where my parents live in Pennsylvania has a $10 Residency Tax to be paid when someone moves in. It also has a $10 Exit Tax to be paid when moving out. Landlords are required to report the comings and goings of renters. I have no idea how (or whether) they intend to enforce the Exit Tax. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/15 "2009-03-06T14:26:40Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > It’s a bit odd to think of going to another state to do your shopping. Back home I’d have to drive 5+ hours to do that. For half a year I worked in Germany 4 days/week, in Switzerland the 5th, lived in Switzerland and shopped in France. Then for 5 months I worked in Switzerland, lived and shopped in France and went to Germany for meetings about twice a month. The area near Basel is called “the Three Borders” and I wasn’t unusual at all. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/16 "2009-03-06T14:33:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > We are not, thank God, the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Nor are we anywhere close to it. Seriously, though… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/17 "2009-03-06T15:22:06Z")
There has been talk of adding a good sized tax on home sales in New Jersey if the homeowner is moving out of state. There is also talk about adding a tax the retirement checks of goverment employees who move out of state. New Jersey has been losing people every year, especially the middle class. Those measures are easier than trying to make the most expensive state to live in more affordable. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/18 "2009-03-06T15:36:58Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > New York is currently experiencing a big budget crunch. The state is billions of dollars short for next year’s budget. As far as this goes, are there any states NOT facing a big budget crunch this year? I thought every state was hurting right now? Exceptions of maybe Montana, Dakotas, Nebraska, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-state-pass-a-law-forbidding-residents-to-move-out/488456/19 "2009-03-06T15:49:25Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > …many laws limiting the expression of free speech, in the name of ‘hate speech’ that there are today? Name one that is still enforced.