In Zobel v. Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against an Alaskan law that distributed income from state oil reserves to its citizens based on their length of residency in the state. The court held that this dividend program violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it created distinctions between newer and older residents without a legitimate governmental objective. The majority opinion stated that while states have broad power under constitution to govern, they cannot arbitrarily discriminate among their citizens based on how long they've lived there as it would discourage travel and migration within United States which is protected by Privileges or Immunities Clause.

In the dissenting opinion for Zobel v. Williams, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that Alaska's dividend distribution scheme was not unconstitutional. He believed that it did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as it was a legitimate attempt by Alaska to reward its citizens for their past contributions and encourage future residency. The state had a right to distribute its natural resources wealth in any manner they saw fit, including rewarding long-term residents with larger dividends from oil revenues. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority’s view that this case involved fundamental rights such as interstate travel or migration; instead, he viewed it simply as an economic benefit program designed by a state government.