Attorney General of New York v. Soto-Lopez
United States Supreme Court
476 U.S. 898 (1986)
New York gave a civil-service employment preference only to veterans who were New York residents at the time they entered military service, permanently excluding any veteran who moved to New York afterward, no matter how long they later resided there. Soto-Lopez (plaintiff) and another applicant, denied the preference on this basis, sued New York (defendant) in federal court. The district court dismissed the suit, but the court of appeals reversed, holding the residency requirement unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a state law granting a civil-service employment preference to veterans who were state residents at the time of entry into military service violates the constitutional right to travel and the Equal Protection Clause.