Replies

“I know you've never read the Constitution but Article IV says Congress has the duty to lay general rules on how a state proves it's acts.”

Now you tell me there is Secession provision in Article IV. If so, it must be in the Full Faith and Credit clause.

The traditional explanation of Section 1 is usually something along the lines of that found in “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.” It reads, in part:

“An essential purpose of the Full Faith and Credit Clause is to assure that the courts of one state will honor the judgments of the courts of another state without the need to retry the whole cause of action. It was an essential mechanism for creating a “union” out of multiple sovereigns. The first sentence of the Full Faith and Credit Clause appeared almost verbatim in Article IV of the Articles of Confederation, which read: “Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.” At the Constitutional Convention, the originally proposed article also specifically required each state to enforce the other states’ judgments regarding debts, but that portion was dropped. There was little discussion of the constitutional provision during the Convention and ratifying period, but it was commonly assumed that the clause was at least in part intended to ensure that debtors could not escape their creditors by crossing into other states. Moreover, the “public Acts” requirement was apparently added to force state courts to enforce each other’s insolvency laws.”

Please cite any founding fathers that state or imply the Full Faith and Credit Clause (or any other part of Article IV) was intended to regulate secession.

I've never heard of it but I'm willing to learn.

I had always thought of article IV as the “Full Faith and Credit Clause”, plus Sections dealing with Privileges and Immunities, and Service and Labour and new state admission, and Republican Form of Government. Now you tell me there is Secession provision in Article IV. If so, it must be in the Full Faith and Credit clause. The traditional explanation of Section 1 is usually something along the lines of that found in “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.” It reads, in part: “An essential purpose of the Full Faith and Credit Clause is to assure that the courts of one state will honor the judgments of the courts of another state without the need to retry the whole cause of action. It was an essential mechanism for creating a “union” out of multiple sovereigns. The first sentence of the Full Faith and Credit Clause appeared almost verbatim in Article IV of the Articles of Confederation, which read: “Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.” At the Constitutional Convention, the originally proposed article also specifically required each state to enforce the other states’ judgments regarding debts, but that portion was dropped. There was little discussion of the constitutional provision during the Convention and ratifying period, but it was commonly assumed that the clause was at least in part intended to ensure that debtors could not escape their creditors by crossing into other states. Moreover, the “public Acts” requirement was apparently added to force state courts to enforce each other’s insolvency laws.” Please cite any founding fathers that state or imply the Full Faith and Credit Clause (or any other part of Article IV) was intended to regulate secession. I've never heard of it but I'm willing to learn.

Is secession an act of a state? If so, can Congress lay general rules on how a state proves that act?