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Article Four of the United States Constitution

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Article Four of the United States Constitution outlines the relationship between the various states , as well as the relationship between each state and the United States federal government . It also empowers Congress to admit new states and administer the territories and other federal lands .

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85-469: The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires states to extend "full faith and credit" to the public acts, records, and court proceedings of other states. The Supreme Court has held that this clause prevents states from reopening cases that have been conclusively decided by the courts of another state. The Privileges and Immunities Clause requires interstate protection of "privileges and immunities," preventing each state from treating citizens of other states in

170-480: A crucial distinction: "the law does not inhibit the buying and selling of oysters after they are lawfully gathered, and have become articles of trade; but it forbids the removal of them from the beds in which they grow." As state laws that regulate the manner of taking of articles of trade such as "[p]aving stones, sand, and many other things" could not possibly be said to be unconstitutional, the Justice concluded that

255-497: A discriminatory manner. The Extradition Clause requires that fugitives from justice be extradited on the demand of executive authority of the state from which they flee. Since the 1987 case of Puerto Rico v. Branstad , federal courts may also use the Extradition Clause to require the extradition of fugitives. The Fugitive Slave Clause requires the return of fugitive slaves ; this clause has not been repealed, but it

340-598: A federal crime to assist an escaped slave, and allowed slave-catchers into every U.S. state and territory. As free states sought to undermine the federal law, the even more severe Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted. In 1864, during the Civil War, an effort to repeal this clause of the Constitution failed. The vote in the House was 69 for repeal and 38 against, which was short of the two-to-one vote required to amend

425-472: A form of direct democracy, violated the republican form of government clause, which permits only a representative democracy. The court rejected the challenge, finding the challenge to have presented a nonjusticiable political question that only Congress can resolve. The doctrine was later limited in Baker v. Carr (1962), which held that the lack of state legislative redistricting to be justiciable. While

510-582: A matter of debate. The federal government owns about twenty-eight percent of the land in the United States. These holdings include national parks , national forests , recreation areas, wildlife refuges, vast tracts of range and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management , reservations held in trust for Native American tribes, military bases, and ordinary federal buildings and installations. Although federal property can be found in every state,

595-469: A proposal to include the phrase, "new States shall be admitted on the same terms with the original States", was defeated. It was feared that the political power of future new western states would eventually overwhelm that of the established eastern states. Once the new Constitution went into effect, however, Congress admitted Vermont and Kentucky on equal terms and thereafter formalized the condition in its acts of admission for subsequent states, declaring that

680-610: A result of which President Woodrow Wilson sent federal troops to the state. Full Faith and Credit Clause Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution , the Full Faith and Credit Clause , addresses the duty that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state". According to the Supreme Court , there

765-581: A series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States , referred to as the Insular Cases , the Court ruled that the territories belonged to , but were not part of the United States. Therefore, under the Territorial clause, Congress had the power to determine which parts of the Constitution applied to the territories. These rulings have helped shape public opinion among Puerto Ricans during

850-704: A trespass action in federal court in order to challenge the seizure of the Hiram. The plaintiff also challenged the law on four constitutional grounds: The Court ultimately upheld the constitutionality of New Jersey's law. With regards to the Commerce Clause, Justice Washington found that Congress's power to regulate commerce "does by no means impair the right of the state government to legislate upon all subjects of internal police within their territorial limits ... even although such legislation may indirectly and remotely affect commerce, provided it do not interfere with

935-422: Is a difference between the credit owed to laws (i.e. legislative measures and common law) as compared to the credit owed to judgments. Judges and lawyers agree on the meaning of the clause with respect to the recognition of judgments rendered by one state in the courts of another. Barring exceptional circumstances, one state must enforce a judgment by a court in another, unless that court lacked jurisdiction, even if

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1020-468: Is taken. If in such court it has the faith and credit of evidence of the highest nature, viz., record evidence, it must have the same faith and credit in every other court. Although the Court was engaged in statutory interpretation in Mills , the Court eventually characterized Mills as a constitutional decision, in the 1887 case of Chicago & Alton v. Wiggins . During the following decades and centuries,

1105-467: Is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths." A political crisis in 1840s Rhode Island , the Dorr Rebellion , forced the Supreme Court to rule on the meaning of this clause. At the time,

1190-629: The Commerce Clause . In 1820, the New Jersey legislature passed a law that prevented the harvesting of oysters from May until September, and allowing only residents of New Jersey to harvest oysters during the rest of the year. The plaintiff, who was not a New Jersey resident, operated a vessel, the Hiram, in the Maurice river cove in order to harvest oysters. This vessel was then seized according to that New Jersey law. The plaintiff brought

1275-467: The consent of the governed . By ensuring that all states must have the same basic republican philosophy, the Guarantee Clause is one of several portions of the Constitution which mandates symmetric federalism between the states. The Constitution does not explain what exactly constitutes a republican form of government. There are, however, several places within it where the principles behind

1360-418: The "Property Clause" or "Territorial Clause", grants Congress the constitutional authority for the management and control of all territories or other property owned by the United States. Additionally, the clause also proclaims that nothing contained within the Constitution may be interpreted to harm (prejudice) any claim of the United States, or of any particular State. The exact scope of this clause has long been

1445-475: The 2003 case of Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt , the Court reiterated that, "[o]ur precedent differentiates the credit owed to laws (legislative measures and common law) and to judgments." If the legal pronouncements of one state conflict with the public policy of another state, federal courts in the past have been reluctant to force a state to enforce the pronouncements of another state in contravention of its own public policy. In cases of out-of-state judgments ,

1530-633: The Act was sustained by the Supreme Court. The constitution is silent on the question of whether or not a state may unilaterally leave, or secede from, the Union. However, the Supreme Court, in Texas v. White (1869), held that a state cannot unilaterally do so. When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all

1615-490: The Admissions Clause does not expressly include this requirement. The Property Clause grants Congress the power to make laws for the territories and other federal lands . The Guarantee Clause mandates that the United States guarantee that all states have a "republican form of government," though it does not define this term. Article Four also requires the United States to protect each state from invasion, and, at

1700-497: The Articles of Confederation did not direct that "executions might issue in one state upon the judgments given in another", but rather was "chiefly intended to oblige each state to receive the records of another as full evidence of such acts and judicial proceedings." At the 1787 Constitutional Convention , James Madison said that he wanted to supplement that provision in the Articles of Confederation, to let Congress "provide for

1785-564: The Congress. The First Clause of Section Three, also known as the Admissions Clause , grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. It also forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of the affected states legislature and Congress. This latter provision

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1870-790: The Constitution. This clause was rendered mostly moot when the Thirteenth Amendment abolished involuntary servitude . New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of

1955-496: The Convention without objection. This clause was added to the clause that provided extradition for fugitives from justice. When first adopted, this clause applied to fugitive slaves and required that they be extradited upon the claims of their masters, but it provided no means for doing so. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 created the mechanism for recovering a fugitive slave, overruled any state laws giving sanctuary , made it

2040-480: The Court has stated that there may be exceptions to the enforcement and jurisdiction of out-of-state judgments, but maintains that there is no public policy exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause for judgments. Federal statutory law (28 USC § 1738) provides that: Such Acts, records and judicial proceedings or copies thereof, so authenticated, shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within

2125-638: The District of Columbia) has been recognized in divorce or dissolution of marriage cases. The clause's application to state-sanctioned same-sex marriages , civil unions , and domestic partnerships is unresolved, although the case of marriage has been rendered moot. In 1996 the U.S. Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a statute defining marriage as being between one man and one woman for federal purposes and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Whether

2210-618: The Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. Section Four requires the United States to protect each state from invasion, and, upon the application of the state legislature (or executive, if the legislature cannot be convened), from domestic violence. This provision was invoked by Colorado governor Elias M. Ammons in 1914 during the Colorado Coalfield War , as

2295-672: The New Jersey law did not fall afoul of the Commerce Clause. Next, Washington treated the Privileges and Immunities Clause issue. The perhaps most-cited aspect of Corfield v. Coryell is Justice Washington's listing of the "privileges and immunities" enjoyed by citizens of the United States: The inquiry is, what are the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states? We feel no hesitation in confining these expressions to those privileges and immunities which are, in their nature, fundamental; which belong, of right, to

2380-539: The Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. Pierce Butler and Charles Pinckney , both from South Carolina , submitted this clause to the Constitutional Convention . James Wilson of Pennsylvania objected, stating it would require that state governments enforce slavery at taxpayers' expense. Butler withdrew the clause. However, on the next day the clause was quietly reinstated and adopted by

2465-468: The Rhode Island constitution was the old royal charter established in the 17th century. By the 1840s, only 40% of the state's free white males were enfranchised. An attempt to hold a popular convention to write a new constitution was declared insurrection by the charter government, and the convention leaders were arrested. One of them brought suit in federal court, arguing that Rhode Island's government

2550-799: The Supreme Court has recognized a " public policy exception" to both the Full Faith and Credit Clause and the accompanying federal statute. In 1939, the Court in Pacific Employers Insurance v. Industrial Accident wrote: [T]here are some limitations upon the extent to which a state may be required by the full faith and credit clause to enforce even the judgment of another state in contravention of its own statutes or policy. See Wisconsin v. Pelican Insurance Co. , 127 U.S. 265; Huntington v. Attrill , 146 U.S. 657; Finney v. Guy , 189 U.S. 335; see also Clarke v. Clarke , 178 U.S. 186; Olmsted v. Olmsted , 216 U.S. 386; Hood v. McGehee , 237 U.S. 611; cf. Gasquet v. Fenner , 247 U.S. 16. And in

2635-465: The Supreme Court ruled in V.L. v. E.L. that under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, the State of Alabama must recognize the adoption decree granted to a same-sex couple by a Georgia state court in 2007, regardless of how that court came to its conclusion granting the decree. The Respect for Marriage Act repealed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and required the U.S. federal government to recognize

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2720-443: The Supreme Court struck down all laws banning interracial marriage in 1967, a number of states banned interracial marriage and did not recognize marriage certificates issued in other states for interracial couples. The full faith and credit clause was never used to force a state to recognize a marriage it did not wish to recognize. However, the existence of a common-law marriage in a sister state (still available in nine states and

2805-750: The Supreme Court's holding in Luther v. Borden still holds today, the Court, by looking to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (adopted 19 years after Luther v. Borden was decided), has developed new criteria for determining which questions are political in nature and which are justiciable . [...] and [the United States] shall protect each of them [the States] against Invasion; and on Application of

2890-650: The United States and its Territories and Possessions as they have by law or usage in the courts of such State, Territory or Possession from which they are taken. The Full Faith and Credit Clause has been applied to orders of protection , for which the clause was invoked by the Violence Against Women Act , and child support , for which the enforcement of the clause was spelled out in the Federal Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act ( 28 U.S.C.   § 1738B ). Until

2975-461: The United States, as they have by law or usage in the Courts of the state from whence the said records are or shall be taken." In 1813, the Supreme Court interpreted this federal statute, in the leading case of Mills v. Duryee , where the judgment of a New York court was used in a local District of Columbia court. Justice Joseph Story wrote for the Court that it was the federal statute (rather than

3060-477: The argument that the law violates the judicial power of the United States in cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction (enumerated in Article III Section II), the opinion states that this power was likely still vested in the States, not in the national government. Then, the opinion demonstrates how the area in question is within the jurisdiction of both New Jersey and Cumberland County. Finally,

3145-439: The basis of equality. Congressional restrictions on the equality of states, even when those limitations have been found in the acts of admission, have been held void by the Supreme Court. For instance the Supreme Court struck down a provision which limited the jurisdiction of the state of Alabama over navigable waters within the state. The Court held, Alabama is, therefore, entitled to the sovereignty and jurisdiction over all

3230-478: The benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; to institute and maintain actions of any kind in the courts of the state; to take, hold and dispose of property, either real or personal; and an exemption from higher taxes or impositions that are paid by the other citizens of the state; may be mentioned as some of the particular privileges and immunities of citizens, which are clearly embraced by the general description of privileges deemed to be fundamental: to which may be added,

3315-471: The case of statutes...the full faith and credit clause does not require one state to substitute for its own statute, applicable to persons and events within it, the conflicting statute of another state, even though that statute is of controlling force in the courts of the state of its enactment with respect to the same persons and events. The Supreme Court continues to apply its public policy exception differently for state judgments as compared to state laws. In

3400-399: The citizens of all free governments; and which have, at all times, been enjoyed by the citizens of the several states which compose this Union, from the time of their becoming free, independent, and sovereign. What these fundamental principles are, it would perhaps be more tedious than difficult to enumerate. They may, however, be all comprehended under the following general heads: Protection by

3485-409: The citizens or subjects of the state" who are "exclusively entitled to the use of it." Washington also added a practical consideration for this distinction: although the state's supply of oysters "may be abundantly sufficient for the use of the citizens of that state," its supply might be "totally exhausted and destroyed" if citizens from all other states were equally entitled to make use of them. For

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3570-530: The clause has given rise to a number of different interpretations. Some contend that the clause requires Congress to treat all citizens equally. Others suggest that citizens of states carry the rights accorded by their home states while traveling in other states. Neither of these theories has been endorsed by the Supreme Court, which has held that the clause means that a state may not discriminate against citizens of other states in favor of its own citizens. In Corfield v. Coryell , 6 F. Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1823),

3655-575: The coast, the normal limit for nations. Under the equal footing doctrine, however, Texas was found not to have control over the three-mile belt after admission into the Union, because the original states did not at the time of joining the union control such waters. Instead, by entering the Union, Texas was found to have surrendered control over the water and the soil under it to Congress. Under the Submerged Lands Act of 1953 , Congress returned maritime territory to some states, but not to others;

3740-472: The concept are articulated. Article Seven , the last and shortest of the Constitution's original articles, stipulated that the Constitution, before it could become established as the "Law of the Land", must obtain the consent of the people by being ratified by popular conventions within the several states. Additionally, as it required the ratification of only nine states in order to become established, rather than

3825-413: The constitutional provision) that made records from one state effective in another state: It is argued, that this act provides only for the admission of such records as evidence, but does not declare the effect of such evidence, when admitted. This argument cannot be supported. The act declares, that the record, duly authenticated, shall have such faith and credit as it has in the state court from whence it

3910-594: The courts and magistrates of every other State." In 1781, a committee of the Continental Congress reported that execution of that clause in the Articles of Confederation required a declaration of two different things: "[1] the method of exemplifying records and [2] the operation of the Acts and judicial proceedings of the Courts of one State contravening those of the States in which they are asserted." A Pennsylvania court stated in 1786, that this provision in

3995-548: The courts of the State; to take, hold and dispose of property, either real or personal; and an exemption from higher taxes or impositions than are paid by the other citizens of the State. Most other benefits were held not to be protected privileges and immunities. In Corfield, the circuit court sustained a New Jersey law giving state residents the exclusive right to gather clams and oysters. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of

4080-404: The elective franchise, as regulated and established by the laws or constitution of the state in which it is to be exercised. These, and many others which might be mentioned, are, strictly speaking, privileges and immunities, and the enjoyment of them by the citizens of each state, in every other state, was manifestly calculated (to use the expressions of the preamble of the corresponding provision in

4165-406: The enforcing court otherwise disagrees with the result. At present, it is widely agreed that this clause of the Constitution has a minimal impact on a court's choice of law decision provided that no state's sovereignty is infringed, although this clause of the Constitution was once interpreted to have greater impact. Article IV, Section 1: Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to

4250-488: The ex-Confederate state governments, setting guidelines for the readmission of the rebellious states into the Union. In 1912, Luther was reaffirmed in Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Co. v. Oregon . In Pacific States , a utility company challenged an Oregon tax law passed by a referendum, as opposed to the ordinary legislative process. The utility company claimed that the use of referendums, as

4335-625: The execution of Judgments in other States, under such regulations as might be expedient." By September 1, 1787, negotiations at the Constitutional Convention had led to the following draft which included supplementary language as Madison had requested, similar to what the committee of the Continental Congress had reported in 1781: Full faith and credit ought to be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings, of every other state; and

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4420-456: The executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. Clause Two requires that fugitives from justice may be extradited on the demand of executive authority of the state from which they fled. The Supreme Court has held that it is not compulsory for the fugitive to have fled after an indictment was issued, but only that

4505-487: The expanded clause in the Constitution, Madison wrote that it established a power that "may be rendered a very convenient instrument of justice, and be particularly beneficial on the borders of contiguous States." In 1790, shortly after the Constitution had been ratified, Congress took action under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, enacting that "the records and judicial proceedings, authenticated as aforesaid, shall have such faith and credit given to them in every Court within

4590-505: The federal circuit court held that privileges and immunities in respect of which discrimination is barred include protection by the Government; the enjoyment of life and liberty ... the right of a citizen of one State to pass through, or to reside in any other State, for purposes of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, or otherwise; to claim the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus ; to institute and maintain actions of any kind in

4675-441: The fugitive fled after having committed the crime. The Constitution provides for the extradition of fugitives who have committed " treason , felony or other crime." That phrase incorporates all acts prohibited by the laws of a state, including misdemeanors and small, or petty, offenses. In Kentucky v. Dennison (1860), the Supreme Court held that the federal courts may not compel state governors to surrender fugitives through

4760-421: The fugitive must do so in the state receiving him. However, the accused may prevent extradition by offering clear evidence that he was not in the state he allegedly fled from at the time of the crime. There is no constitutional requirement that extradited fugitives be tried only for the crimes named in the extradition proceedings. Fugitives brought to states by means other than extradition may be tried, even though

4845-441: The government; the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety; subject nevertheless to such restraints as the government may justly prescribe for the general good of the whole. The right of a citizen of one state to pass through, or to reside in any other state, for purposes of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, or otherwise; to claim

4930-402: The guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There

5015-406: The issue of writs of mandamus . The Dennison decision was overruled by Puerto Rico v. Branstad (1987); now, the federal courts may require the extradition of fugitives. Alleged fugitives generally may not challenge extradition proceedings. The motives of the governor demanding the extradition may not be questioned. The accused cannot defend himself against the charges in the extraditing state;

5100-586: The judgment of one state court must be recognized by other states' courts as final. However, in McElmoyle v. Cohen , 38 U.S. (13 Pet. ) 312 (1839), the court heard a case where one party obtained a judgment in South Carolina and sought to enforce it in Georgia, which had a statute of limitations that barred actions on judgments after a certain amount of time had passed since the judgment

5185-476: The judiciary had interpreted the phrase "privileges and immunities" to mean as it stood in the original Constitution (Article 4 Section 2). However, there is substantial evidence to the effect that some congressmen, when the Fourteenth Amendment was passed did not accept Justice Washington's reading of the term. Justice Washington's assessment is often cited by those who advocate a broader reading of

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5270-583: The largest concentrations are in the Western United States , where, for example, the federal government owns over eighty percent of the land within Nevada . Pursuant to a parallel clause in Article One, Section Eight , the Supreme Court has held that states may not tax such federal property. In another case, Kleppe v. New Mexico , the Court ruled that the federal Wild Horse and Burro Act

5355-515: The latter part of this clause, then the former part of this clause "would amount to nothing more than what now takes place among all Independent Nations". Later, during the ratification process, James Madison remarked further on this subject, in Federalist No. 42 . He wrote that the corresponding clause in the Articles of Confederation was "extremely indeterminate, and can be of little importance under any interpretation which it will bear". Of

5440-519: The latter provision of DOMA violated the Full Faith and Credit Clause was debated among legal commentators. Some scholars viewed DOMA as a violation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause. Other legal scholars disagreed. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor struck down DOMA as a violation of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and did not address the Full Faith and Credit Clause in its decision. In March 2016,

5525-423: The legislature shall, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings, shall be proved, and the effect which judgments, obtained in one state, shall have in another. After several further modifications, the Full Faith and Credit Clause assumed the form in which it remains today. James Wilson said during the constitutional convention that, if Congress were to not use its power under

5610-533: The manner in which proof of such acts, records, or proceedings may be admitted. In Mills v. Duryee , 1t1 U.S. (7 Cranch ) 481 (1813), the United States Supreme Court ruled that the merits of a case, as settled by courts of one state, must be recognized by the courts of other states; state courts may not reopen cases which have been conclusively decided by the courts of another state. Later, Chief Justice John Marshall suggested that

5695-748: The means of the conveyance was unlawful; the Supreme Court so ruled in Mahon v. Justice , 127 U.S. 700 (1888). In Mahon a body of armed men from Kentucky forcibly took, without a warrant, a man in West Virginia to bring him back to Kentucky for formal arrest and trial. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of

5780-482: The new state enters "on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever." Thus the Congress, utilizing the discretion allowed by the framers, adopted a policy of equal status for all newly admitted states. With the growth of states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period , the Supreme Court asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated admission of new states on

5865-440: The old articles of confederation) "the better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different states of the Union." Thus, Washington concluded that the right to harvesting oysters, not being included in the list of these fundamental privileges and immunities of citizens, was not bound to be extended to all non-state citizens. The opinion concluded that "[the right] of fishing belongs to all

5950-433: The ongoing debate over the commonwealth's political status . The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, [...] This clause, sometimes referred to as the Guarantee Clause, has long been at the forefront of the debate about the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the government. The Guarantee Clause mandates that all U.S. states must be grounded in republican principles such as

6035-418: The opinion indicates that an action of trespass from the owner of the vessel is not warranted, because as the vessel was rented out to the plaintiff, the owner of the vessel cannot pass such an action. The well-known passage from Corfield was quoted in reference to the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment (substantially authored by John Bingham ), during congressional debates for an indication of what

6120-665: The public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. A similar clause existed in Article IV of the Articles of Confederation , the predecessor to the U.S. Constitution: "Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of

6205-460: The regulations of congress upon the same subject." He cited Gibbons v. Ogden in this reasoning, providing verbatim the list of allowed state laws mentioned in that decision: "inspection, quarantine, and health laws; laws regulating the internal commerce of the state; laws establishing and regulating turnpike roads, ferries, canals, and the like." Washington also argued that the New Jersey law does not affect articles of commerce directly, by making

6290-480: The request of a state, from "domestic violence." Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. The first section requires states to extend "full faith and credit" to the public acts, records, and court proceedings of other states. Congress may regulate

6375-519: The responsibility to establish guidelines for the republican nature of state governments in the hands of the Congress. This power became an important part of Reconstruction after the American Civil War . The Radical Republican majority used this clause as the basis for taking control of the ex-Confederate states and for promoting civil rights for freedmen , plus the limiting of political and voting rights for ex- Confederates , abolishing

6460-438: The territory within her limits ... to maintain any other doctrine, is to deny that Alabama has been admitted into the union on an equal footing with the original states ... to Alabama belong the navigable waters and soils under them. The doctrine, however, can also be applied to the detriment of states, as occurred with Texas. Before admission to the Union, Texas , as an independent nation , controlled water within three miles of

6545-659: The unanimous consent required by the Articles of Confederation , the Constitution was more republican, as it protected the majority from effectively being ruled or held captive by the minority. The Federalist Papers also gives some insight as to the intent of the Founders. A republican form of government is distinguished from a direct democracy , which the Founding Fathers had no intentions of entering. As James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 10 , "Hence it

6630-630: The validity of same-sex and interracial marriages in the United States, and to protect religious liberty . Its author, Senator Tammy Baldwin , has stated that its constitutional authority stems from the Full Faith and Credit Clause. The wording of this clause was closely followed by the framers of the Constitution of Australia from 1901 , namely, in Section 118 of the Constitution of Australia . Corfield v. Coryell Corfield v. Coryell (6 Fed. Cas. 546, no. 3,230 C.C.E.D.Pa. 1823)

6715-578: Was a landmark decision decided by Justice Bushrod Washington , sitting as a judge for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania . In it, he upheld a New Jersey regulation forbidding non-residents from gathering oysters and clams against a challenge that New Jersey's law violated the Article IV Privileges and Immunities Clause and that the New Jersey law regulated interstate commerce in violation of

6800-580: Was a constitutional exercise of congressional power under the Property Clause ;– at least insofar as it was applied to a finding of trespass. The case prohibited the entering upon the public lands of the United States and removing wild burros under the New Mexico Estray Law. A major issue early in the 20th century was whether the whole Constitution applied to the territories called insular areas by Congress. In

6885-408: Was designed to give Eastern states that still had claims to Western lands (e.g., Virginia and North Carolina ) to have a veto over whether their western counties (which eventually became Kentucky and Tennessee ) could become states. It would later be applied with regard to the formation of Maine (from Massachusetts ) and West Virginia (from Virginia). At the 1787 Constitutional Convention ,

6970-512: Was entered. The court upheld Georgia's refusal to enforce the South Carolina judgment. The court found that out-of-state judgments are subject to the procedural law of the states where they are enforced, notwithstanding any priority accorded in the states in which they are issued. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. Clause One of Section 2 requires interstate protection of "privileges and immunities". The seeming ambiguity of

7055-493: Was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. This clause, commonly known as

7140-430: Was not "republican" in character, and that his arrest (along with all of the government's other acts) was invalid. In Luther v. Borden , the Court held that the determination of whether a state government is a legitimate republican form as guaranteed by the Constitution is a political question to be resolved by the Congress. In effect, the court held the clause to be nonjusticiable . The Luther v. Borden ruling left

7225-417: Was rendered moot by the Thirteenth Amendment , which abolished involuntary servitude, except in the prison system. The Admissions Clause grants Congress the authority to admit new states but forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of the affected states. The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution requires all states to be admitted on an equal footing , though

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