Interstate Compacts and the Full Faith and Credit Clause

1. STANDARD(S) ADDRESSED:12.1 Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the Constitution. LEARNING OBJECTIVES/ GOALS/ SWBAT • Explain why States make interstate compacts. • Understand the purpose of the Full Faith and Credit Clause. • Describe the Extradition Clause and explain its purpose. • Explain the purpose of the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

2. A BULLDOG ALWAYS Commitment Attitude CARES Respect Encouragement Safety

3. Key Terms interstate compact:an agreement made between two States or between a State and a foreign government extradition:the legal process of returning a fugitive to a State

4. Key Terms, cont. Full Faith and Credit Clause: the clause of the Constitution that says that each State will respect the laws, records, and court decisions of other States Privileges and Immunities Clause: the clause in the Constitution that says that no State can make unreasonable distinctions between its own residents and those persons who live in another State

5. Introduction How do the States work together to preserve the Union? State governments make interstate compacts. States offer full faith and credit to the laws, official records, and court rulings of other States. States extradite fugitives to other States. States respect the privileges and immunities of residents of other States.

6. Interstate Compacts No State may enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation. However, the States may, with the consent of Congress, enter into interstate compacts—agreements among themselves and with foreign states. More than 200 compacts are now in force, and range in a variety of uses from sharing law-enforcement data to resource development and conservation. 3

7. Interstate Compacts States can enter agreements with other States and with foreign governments with the consent of Congress. The number of these agreements has increased over time. There are interstate agreements to share law enforcement data, counter global climate change, encourage cooperation between public universities, and coordinate the conservation of water and wildlife.

8. Interstate Compacts, cont. States also cooperate to manage shared resources and border areas. The States of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico meet at the “Four Corners.”

9. Interstate Compacts State’s form compacts with other States: to achieve together what one state might have difficulty doing alone. 3

11. Ratified Tribal-State Gaming Compacts (New and Amended) • The State of California has signed and ratified Tribal-State Gaming Compacts with 71 Tribes and there areSecretarial Procedures in effect with one Tribe.There are currently 59 casinos operated by 58 Tribes

12. Guided Reading:

13. Full Faith and Credit The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution requires each State to honor and enforce the laws, official documents, and court rulings of other States. Documents issued in one State—such as birth certificates—must be accepted in all States.

14. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution ensures that States • recognize the laws (public acts) • documents (records) • court (judicial) proceedings of the other States.

18. Guided Reading:

19. Exceptions There are two key exceptions to the Full Faith and Credit Clause: It applies only to the civil laws of each State, not the criminal laws. If a person who does not live in a State is granted a divorce by that State, the State in which that person actually resides can refuse to recognize the divorce.

20. Marriage and Divorce Only the State in which a couple has established residency can grant them a divorce. Same-sex marriages are outlawed by the federal government and 41 States. However, several States allow legal same-sex marriages or civil unions. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) says that no State can be forced to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another State.

21. Marriage and Divorce The constitutionality of DOMA has not yet been decided. Interracial marriage was illegal in many States until the Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that such laws were unconstitutional. NOTE TO The above image shows Richard and Mildred Loving. The couple married in Washington D.C. in 1958, but were arrested in Virginia, their home state, where interracial marriage was illegal. The case went to the Supreme Court, which declared the Virginia law unconstitutional.

22. Extradition The Constitution states that people charged with a crime in one State who flee to another State must be extradited—returned to the State where they were originally charged. Typically a State governor asks another State governor to return any captured fugitives. Such requests are usually upheld. If extradition is challenged, the federal government can order a governor to extradite a fugitive.

23. Extradition Extradition is the legal process by which a fugitive from justice in one State is returned to that State. Extradition is upheld through Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution. 3

24. Extradition Governors are the State executives that handle the extradition process. If a governor is unwilling to return a fugitive to a State, federal courts can intervene and order that governor to do so. 3

25. Guided Reading:

26. Privileges and Immunities No State can make unreasonabledistinctions between its residents and residents of another State. Each State must recognize the right of any American to travel in or become a resident of that State. Citizens can also marry, buy, own, rent, or sell property, and use the courts in any State, no matter where they live.

27. Privileges and Immunities, cont. States can make reasonable distinctions between their residents and those of other States. People can be required to live in a State for certain period of time before they can vote, hold public office, or be licensed in certain professions. States can also charge higher fees to out-of-State hunters, fishers, or students attending a State’s public universities.

28. Privileges and Immunities, cont. Checkpoint: Why might a State be restricted from making distinctions between its residents and those of another State? This could lead to unfair social or economic treatment of U.S. citizens, such as preferential hiring of in-State residents or lower welfare benefits for newly arrived residents. It could also cause conflict between States. Checkpoint Answer: It could lead to prejudiced treatment of people from other states or recent residents who come from other states, which would lead to conflict and would violate the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

29. Privileges and Immunities The Privileges and Immunities Clause provides that no State can draw unreasonable distinctions between its own residents and those persons who happen to live in other States. States cannot, for example, pay lower welfare benefits to newly arrived residents than it does to its long-term residents, Saens v. Roe, 1999. 3

30. Privileges and Immunities However, States can draw reasonable distinctions between its own residents and those of other states, such as charging out-of-State residents: higher tuition for State universities than in-State residents. Higher fishing or hunting license fees 3

31. Guided Reading:

32. Review Essential Question. Is the federal system the best way to govern the United States?