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Originally Posted by smooth
The fact of the matter is that there are no laws mandating that states honor each other's marriage licenses (or driver's licenses, for that matter). They have historically chosen to do so on their own accord.
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Article 4, section 1, Constitution of the United States of America:
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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.
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So the fact is, there is a law. I don't know how it applies to marriage, and I don't think there's been a test case at the Federal level.
I know that in other areas, public policy of one state might preclude it from such recognition, and that usually flies. If, however, congress enacted a law that specifically stated that all states must recognize marriages of other states, that would put the issue to bed (no pun intended).