Opinion of the Court
California Cannot Restrict Welfare Benefits of Recently Arrived Residents
The word "travel" is not found in the text of the Constitution. Yet the "constitutional right to travel from one State to another" is firmly embedded in our jurisprudence. — United States v. Guest (1966). Indeed, as Justice Stewart reminded us in Shapiro v. Thompson (1969), the right is so important that it is "assertable against private interference as well as governmental action … a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all." In Shapiro, we reviewed the constitutionality of three statutory provisions that denied welfare assistance to residents of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania,…
