Baldwin v. Fish & Game Commission of Montana

Baldwin v. Fish & Game Commission of Montana, 436 U.S. 371 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case that affirmed the right of the state of Montana to charge higher fees for out-of-state elk hunters.

Baldwin v. Fish & Game Commission of Montana
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 5, 1977 Decided May 23, 1978
Full case name	Lester Baldwin, et al. v. Fish & Game Commission of Montana, et al.
Citations	436 U.S. 371 (more) 98 S. Ct. 1852; 56 L. Ed. 2d 354
Holding
Recreational hunting is not a fundamental right and therefore is not within the purview of privileges and immunities clause. The Montana statutory does not violate the equal protection clause.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Blackmun, joined by Burger, Stewart, Powell, Rehnquist, Stevens
Concurrence	Burger
Dissent	Brennan, joined by White, Marshall

Background

In the state of Montana, the fee for an elk-hunting licenses for nonresidents of the state were substantially higher than the fee for residents of the state in the 1970s.

Decision of the Court

In a 6–3 decision in favor of the state of Montana, Justice Blackmun wrote the opinion for the majority. The court found that the licensing system bore some rational relationship to legitimate state purposes. The court concluded that the nonresidents' interest in sharing the limited resource on more equal terms with residents simply did not fall within the purview of the Privileges and Immunities Clause. Equality in access to state elk was not basic to the maintenance or well-being of the union, and whatever rights or activities were fundamental under the Privileges and Immunities Clause, elk hunting by nonresidents was not one of them. The legislative choice was an economic means not unreasonably related to the preservation of a finite resource and a substantial regulatory interest of the state because it served to limit the number of hunter days.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 436

Further reading

• Howard, J. G. (1978). "The Privileges and Immunities Clause: A Reaffirmation of Fundamental Rights". University of Miami Law Review. 33: 691. ISSN 0041-9818.
• Ramlow, Jim (1977). "Montana Outfitters v. Fish and Game Commission: Of Elk and Equal Protection". Montana Law Review. 38: 387. ISSN 0026-9972. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
• Simson, Gary J. (1979). "Discrimination against Nonresidents and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV". University of Pennsylvania Law Review (Submitted manuscript). 128 (2): 379–401. doi:10.2307/3311657. JSTOR 3311657. S2CID 58929293.

External links

• Text of Baldwin v. Fish and Game Commission of Montana, 436 U.S. 371 (1978) is available from: CourtListener Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)