The “Right to Travel” Affidavit: Every Authority Reviewed

What a right to travel affidavit usually claims

This page is for education, information and intellectual discussion. It explains what each authority says and what each court decided. It does not tell anyone to use these arguments, and it is not legal advice.

Most right to travel affidavits follow the same pattern. The signer cancels or “revokes” a driver’s license as if it were a contract. Next, the signer declares a special status, such as “state Citizen,” “non-citizen national” or “secured party.” Then the document quotes court decisions about the right to travel, about citizenship and about the sovereignty of the people.

Finally, it says that any ticket or arrest would violate the signer’s rights, and that an affidavit nobody rebuts “stands as truth.”

We checked every case and statute quoted in a typical right to travel affidavit against the actual text. Some quotations are accurate. Others are accurate but leave out the next sentence. A few do not appear in the cited case at all. The pages below go through each one.

The groups of authorities

• Right to travel and driver licensing — Chicago Motor Coach, Thompson v. Smith, Kent v. Dulles, Buck v. Kuykendall, Hendrick v. Maryland and the vehicle code sections.
• State citizen vs. U.S. citizen, and “non-citizen nationals” — the Fourteenth Amendment, the Slaughter-House Cases, United States v. Anthony, McDonel, Tashiro, Crosse and the nationality statutes.
• “The United States is a corporation” — 28 U.S.C. § 3002(15), 18 U.S.C. § 5, In re Merriam’s Estate and the Buck Act.
• Automobiles as “consumer goods” and “household goods” — the UCC, customs and will cases.
• Sovereignty of the people — Chisholm, Perry, Barnes, Yick Wo, Marbury, Norton and the state constitution cases.
• Judicial and official immunity — Bradley v. Fisher, Pierson, Stump, Pulliam and the cases on government in commerce.
• “Everything in public is by contract” — license “revocation,” waiver, unconscionability and consideration.
• Unrebutted affidavits and commercial maxims — “an unrebutted affidavit stands as truth,” discharge bonds and the criminal statutes these affidavits cite.

What is accurate in these affidavits

Several core points in a right to travel affidavit are true. The Supreme Court has held that the right to travel is part of the liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment (Kent v. Dulles, 1958). There is a separate citizenship of the United States and of each state (the Slaughter-House Cases, 1873). The people are the source of governmental authority, and an act that conflicts with the Constitution is void (Marbury v. Madison, 1803). A waiver of a constitutional right must be knowing and voluntary (Brady v. United States, 1970).

Many of the statutes are quoted correctly too, such as 18 U.S.C. § 5, 28 U.S.C. § 3002(15) and 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(22).

Where the right to travel affidavit and the case law part ways

The disagreement is about the conclusion. Every court that has decided the question has held that the right to travel does not include a right to drive without a license or registration. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld state licensing and registration of private drivers in Hendrick v. Maryland (1915), Kane v. New Jersey (1916) and Reitz v. Mealey (1941).

Several of the cases quoted for the opposite view actually upheld the regulation. For example, Thompson v. Smith said a city may require driving permits. Ex parte Hoffert upheld a registration fee on private cars, and Stephenson v. Binford upheld permits for contract carriers. The detailed pages show the exact wording of each decision so you can read it for yourself.

How to check the right to travel affidavit claim yourself

If someone offers you a strategy built on right to travel affidavit, ask for the court decisions that accepted it. In the decisions cited on this page, courts did not accept it. Instead, read the real statute or rule the claim cites, and then read how courts have applied it. Also, look at the cases listed above. They show what happens when people raise the argument in court. For a real dispute, talk to a licensed attorney in your state. You can start with our directory.

Sources and further reading

Official sources used on this page:

• tile.loc.gov
• tile.loc.gov
• tile.loc.gov

Related reading on Lawtopolis:

• The Right to Travel and Driver Licensing: What the Cases Say
• State Citizen vs. U.S. Citizen: Fourteenth Amendment Citizenship and "Non-Citizen Nationals"
• Sovereignty of the People: Chisholm, Yick Wo, Perry and the Supremacy of the Constitution
• "Everything in Public Is by Contract": Consent, Licenses and Contract Theory