Government in the United States, National, State and Local — John Shaqi
Government in the United States, National, State and LocalGarner, James Wilford
History
Government in the United States, National, State and Local
Garner, James Wilford
United States -- Politics and government
_Other Rights of the States._--Among the other rights of the states
under the Federal Constitution may be mentioned the right of equal
representation in the senate, a right of which no state can be deprived
without its consent, and the right of territorial integrity: no new
state may be created within the jurisdiction of another state, nor may
any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of
states, without the consent of the states concerned.
=Obligations and Duties of the States.=--Rights and privileges usually
imply obligations, and so we find that the states owe certain duties to
one another and to the union of which they are a part, and the harmony
and success of the federal system are dependent in a large measure upon
the performance of these duties in good faith.
_Full Faith and Credit._--First of all, each state must give full faith
and credit to the acts, judicial proceedings, and records of the other
states. This means, for example, that a properly authenticated copy of a
will or deed duly executed in one state will be taken notice of and
rights depending on it will be enforced in other states as though the
instrument were made therein. Likewise, a marriage legally celebrated in
one state will usually be treated as valid in another state, and the
facts of a case at law will be recognized in other states without the
necessity of retrial. The provision as to full faith and credit does
_not_ mean that one state must enforce within its borders the laws of
other states, or that its courts in reaching their decisions are bound
by the decisions of the courts of its sister states. As a matter of
practice, however, courts in one state in deciding difficult questions
of law will examine the decisions of the courts of other states on
similar points for their own enlightenment, and will show respect for
these decisions, the degree of deference depending on the standing of
the judges rendering the decision and upon the similarity of the laws
and policies of the states concerned.
_Surrender of Fugitives from Justice._--In the next place, it is made
the constitutional duty of the executive of each state to surrender
criminals escaping from other states, in order that they may be returned
for trial and punishment in the state from which they have fled. The
demand for the surrender of such fugitives is made by the governor of
the state from which the criminal has fled, and the governor upon whom
the demand is made ought to comply with it unless for very substantial
reasons. There is no way, however, by which this obligation may be
enforced, and there have been many cases where governors have refused to
deliver up criminals escaping from other states--usually for the reason
that, in the governor's opinion, the fugitive would not receive a fair
trial in the state from which he had fled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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