[Alberta's Child]

Actually, the legal arguments are right on target. The Federal government had the authority to impose those requirements on those western states because a Federal statute in place at the time gave the Federal government authority over the marriage laws of U.S. territories that were not states and therefore had no state laws to govern the institution of marriage.

The legal argument presented today ... and from my standpoint it's a very compelling one ... is that the Federal statute governing marriage in those territories effectively became null and void once those territories adopted their own marriage laws after they were granted statehood.

[EternalVigilance]

They were required to put it in their state constitutions. That was the deal.