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Learn about the Full Faith and Credit Clause, which requires each state to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. Explore the historical background, judicial precedents, and congressional laws related to this clause.
- Article IV
Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each...
- Article IV
Article IV addresses something different: the states’ relations with each other, sometimes called “horizontal federalism.” Its first section, the Full Faith and Credit Clause, requires every state, as part of a single nation, to give a certain measure of respect to every other state’s laws and institutions.
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".
Article IV contains four sections that deal with the full faith and credit, privileges and immunities, fugitive slave, and new states clauses. Learn about the history, interpretation, and application of these clauses from the official website of the U.S. Congress.
Section 1. 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.
Article IV, Section 1: 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 the manner in which proof of such acts, records, or proceedings may be admitted.
