Full Faith and Credit--does it guarantee same sex civil unions?
The FF&C clause of the Constitution allows Americans to move freely throughout the country, taking important documents with them. Outside of fresh food checkpoints guarding against the potential destructive insect, the US state borders are a colander, allowing open access with your home state's driver's license as an accepted ID. Public records are accepted--that marriage in Las Vegas is valid in PA, as well as a divorce decree in Wes Virginia still means you are divorced.
So if a couple has a same sex civil union in New Hampshire, are they still married in PA? The crafty states, 40 of them, have already passed lawsestricting this recogntion; but, do these laws violate FF&C? On the surface, the answer seems to be "yes", since a marriage in another state is legally recognized, a civil union would also be given the same protection.
Yet, the Supreme Court may let social conservativism trump their normal judicial restraint outcome to let the states legislate their problems.
Inevitably, this Full Faith & Credit dispute over civil unions will be resolved soon, which in Supreme Court terms means within the decade!
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