Does the Constitution Prevent 'Hunger Games: America'?

The complicated history of Article IV and how it keeps us from dissolving into murderous districts competing for show...or something like that

Welcome back to our crash course in the U.S. Constitution — everything you need to know to better debate those aunts and uncles of yours on Facebook, without the law school price or the weird professors. Each issue tackles a different big idea that’s shaped American life: free speech, due process, equal protection, search and seizure, etc.. Expect real-world examples, understandable explanations, and the occasional lawyer joke (now you’ve been warned, so you can’t be upset). Whether you're a news junkie, a student, or just someone who wants to finally understand what “strict scrutiny” actually means, you’ll leave each issue a little smarter — and way more equipped to fight mistruths. The law was meant to be understood by the people. This series is here to prove it.

Today’s issue: Does the Constitution Prevent 'Hunger Games: America'?

Previous issue: Texas vs. New York and $100,000 To Change the Constitution: The Brewing Legal Battle to Redefine How States Play in the Constitutional Sandbox. (Available here.)

Next issue: Are We Having Another Baby, America? The Statehood and Federal Land Clause

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🧳 Privileges, Immunities, and the Great American Sleepover Clause

"You can’t come to our house and eat our snacks unless you're wearing our pajamas."
—Every child, ever, misunderstanding what reciprocity is

Let’s talk about the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which sounds like something you’d find on a cruise line contract next to a section on gastrointestinal liability, but it's actually the constitutional clause that keeps states from acting like exclusive country clubs when fellow Americans come to visit.

And it’s certain to pop up a lot over the next few years, as current political priorities place more and more power in the hands of the states. What happens to abortion access across state lines when one state forbids it and the other doesn’t? What about a business owner operating with an entity that one state finds morally reprehensible? What about gender-affirming healthcare for the transgender community? And why oh why can state colleges charge in-state residents so much less than out-of-state residents?

The answers to all those questions (and more) are buried in the lengthy jurisprudence of Article IV, Section 2.

Here’s why and how.