The Supreme Court struck down lengthy state residency requirements as a condition for receiving welfare benefits.

The Supreme Court declared unconstitutional state statutes that set a one-year residency requirement for the receipt of welfare assistance. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.,Brennan, William J., Jr.;Shapiro v. Thompson[Shapiro v. Thompson] writing for a six-member majority, stated that the one-year limit was too long and invidiously discriminated against recipients under the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. He also justified the decision by holding that the statute limited the right to travel. Justice Potter Stewart concurred on separate grounds. Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Hugo L. Black dissented on the grounds that they could not see how the statute limited travel. Justice John M. Harlan II dissented, claiming that he could see no more than a limited and insubstantial limit on travel.Travel, right to;Shapiro v. Thompson[Shapiro v. Thompson]

Equal protection clause

Fourteenth Amendment

Travel, right to