The idea of state sovereignty is not dead. Rather, after the McBurney v. Young case, it appears that lawful distinctions between states and their respective citizens in our grand Republic — or at least in the Fourth Circuit — are alive and well. You can find the opinion here.
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) grants “citizens of the Commonwealth” (and representatives of media in Virginia) access to public records. Non-Virginians who had ties to Virginia only through divorce, child custody and child support decrees (McBurney, a citizen of Rhode Island) and business gathering public information for sale to customers (Hulbert, a citizen of California) challenged the VFOIA “citizens only” provision on two grounds.
First the Appellant challengers argued that the “citizens-only” provision violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the United States Constitution. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, saying that the rights granted under the VFOIA are not “fundamental rights” sufficiently basic to the livelihood of the nation so to be protected under the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
Please see full article below for more information.
Please see full publication below for more information.
