Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Kathryn A. Piper case brief

Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Kathryn A. Piper case brief summary

470 U.S. 274 (1985)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, challenged an order from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that affirmed the district court's finding that N.H. Sup. Ct. R. 42 violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause, U.S. Constitutional Article IV, § 2. Appellee had been denied admittance to the state bar on residency grounds.

CASE FACTS
Appellee applied and passed the New Hampshire bar. Appellee would have been accepted to the bar of New Hampshire had appellee established a home address in New Hampshire. Appellee alleged that N.H. Sup. Ct. R. 42, that excluded nonresidents from the bar, violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause, U.S. Constitutional Article IV, § 2. Appellant, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, alleged that if the state could not exclude nonresidents from the bar, its ability to function as a sovereign political body would be threatened.

DISCUSSION

• The court held that the right to practice law was protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause. 
• The court considered whether the discrimination bore a close or substantial relationship to the state's objectives and considered the availability of less restrictive means. 
• The court held that the means chosen did not bear the necessary relationship to the state's objectives. 
• The Court affirmed that residency requirements violated the Constitution.

CONCLUSION
Affirmed the appellate court's holding against appellant, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, and held that the bar residency requirements violated the Constitution because appellee's interest in practicing law was a protected privilege and the state's reasons for discriminating were not substantial.