Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Hicklin v. Orbeck case brief

Hicklin v. Orbeck case brief summary
437 U.S. 518

SYNOPSIS:
Appellants, nonresidents seeking work on Alaska pipelines, sought review of a judgment of the Supreme Court of Alaska, which held that an Alaska statute dictating a general preference for the hiring of Alaska residents for work on such pipelines was constitutionally permissible.

FACTS:
-The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the state court judgment, which upheld an Alaska statute known as "Alaska Hire," Alaska Stat. §§ 38.40.010 to 38.40.090, dictating a general preference for the hiring of qualified Alaska residents over nonresidents for work on Alaska pipelines.
-Appellants, nonresidents desirous of securing jobs covered by Alaska Hire, had challenged Alaska Hire as violative of the Privileges and Immunities Clause of U.S. Const. art. IV, § 2.

HOLDING:
The Court held that even assuming Alaska could validly attempt to alleviate its unemployment problem by requiring private employers within the state to discriminate against nonresidents, Alaska Hire's discrimination against nonresidents could not withstand scrutiny under the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

ANALYSIS:
-Specifically, no showing was made that nonresidents were a peculiar source of the evil Alaska Hire was enacted to remedy. Further, the mere fact that Alaska owned the oil and gas that were the subject of Alaska Hire did not remove the statute from the prohibitions of the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

OUTCOME:
The Court reversed a judgment upholding an Alaska statute dictating a general preference for the hiring of Alaska residents to work on Alaska pipelines where there was no showing that nonresidents were a peculiar source of the evil the statute was enacted to remedy; namely, high unemployment.

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