How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment's privileges and immunities clause?

The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” This clause, the privileges or immunities clause, refers to the rights granted to citizens of the United States and is meant to protect citizens from state laws that would strip them of those rights. The Supreme Court has interpreted the clause several times throughout the years. In 1873, in the Slaughter-House Cases, the Supreme Court held that the clause did not grant citizens of the United States additional rights beyond those that were previously recognized. The Court reasoned that the clause was meant to protect the rights that had already been granted to citizens under the Constitution. In the years since, the Supreme Court has continued to interpret the clause in various other cases. In the 1897 case of United States v. Cruikshank, the Court held that the clause did not prevent state governments from regulating the right to bear arms. In the later case of Saenz v. Roe, the Supreme Court held that the clause did protect citizens from state laws that would restrict their right to travel. In addition, the Court has held that the clause does protect the rights of citizens from state laws that would abridge their right to due process of law. Overall, the Supreme Court has interpreted the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as a way to protect the previously recognized rights of citizens of the United States from state laws that may infringe on those rights.

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How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment's privileges and immunities clause?

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