Only one section of the Constitution will not independently support federal question jurisdiction, because its connection with plaintiff's claim is not sufficiently direct to satisfy the "arising under" requirement. The Full Faith and Credit Clause [28] has been held to mandate only a rule of decision for state or federal courts when they encounter a question of the law or some aspect of the judicial proceedings of another state; [29] if the Clause were permitted to serve as a basis for federal jurisdiction, the result would be to open the federal courts to every action to enforce a state statute or judgment in another state. [30]28. U.S. Const. Art. IV, § 1.
29. Minnesota v. Northern Sec. Co., 194 U.S. 48, 72, 24 S.Ct. 598, 605, 48 L.Ed. 870 (1904).
30. California ex rel. McColgan v. Bruce, 129 F.2d 421, 424 (9th Cir.1942).
31. Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 103 S.Ct. 1962, 76 L.Ed.2d 81 (1983); Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. v. Northwestern Pub. Serv. Co., 341 U.S. 246, 249, 71 S.Ct. 692, 694, 95 L.Ed. 912 (1951).
Minnesota v. Northern Sec. Co., 194 U.S. 48, 72, 24 S.Ct. 598, 605, 48 L.Ed. 870 (1904).
This, it is contended, presents a case arising under article 4 of the Constitution, providing that 'full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.' It is said by the state's counsel that the 'gravamen of the charge in appellant's complaint is that the defendants created a corporate device in New Jersey, and used it for the purpose and with the result that property rights in Minnesota were affected, in violation of its laws. Our contention is that article 4 must be so construed as to make the constitutional enactments of Minnesota effective throughout the United States, so far as they apply to and affect property rights within the state. Otherwise the policy and laws of any state may be easily evaded.' We do not think that the clause of the Constitution above quoted has any bearing whatever upon the question under consideration. It only prescribes a rule by which courts, Federal and state, are to be guided when a question arises in the progress of a pending suit as to the faith and credit to be given by the court to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of a state other than that in which the court is sitting. Even if it be assumed that the word 'acts' includes 'statutes,' the clause has nothing to do with the conduct of individuals or corporations; and to invoke the rule which it prescribes does not make a case arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States.