Article IV: States in Contemporary Times

Article IV-The
States in
Contemporary
Times

Lesson Overview

• Students Will Be Able To:
oIdentify the key constitutional provisions in Article IV (4).
oExplain modern debates over how to interpret Article IV (4).
• Vocabulary-
o23rd Amendment, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Enabling Act,
Extradition, Obergefell v. Hodges, Referendum, Respect for Marriage Act
(RFMA), United States v. Windsor

Content of Today's Class

• I wanted to give you a heads-up that we are going to be discussing
several court cases today that discuss some sensitive topics around
privacy and personal beliefs.
• Please feel free to review these ideas on your own, for your exam you
are expected to know the challenges and their connections to
the 14th Amendment dealing with Due Process and Equal Protection.

• All citizens are entitled to make their own opinions as part of being
informed. However, in class we will focus on fact-based opinions
when discussing cases/concepts.

• Cases-
o Obergefell v. Hodges, United States v. Windsor

The U.S. Constitution | Constitution Center

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Point to Ponder

• Washington D.C is unique because it is not a state but rather a District of Columbia
• It has a local government elected by
residents however the US Congress can
overturn those laws and remove the elected
people
• The residents are US Citizens but have no
votes in Congress (only one non-voting
member in the HOR)
• The 23rd Amendment- passed in 1961,
allows Washington D.C to have three
Electoral College Votes

Do you think that
Washington D.C should
become a state?

Important Background Facts

• Remember that Article IV (4) creates/established a
relationship between the states themselves and
the states and the Federal Government
• The states and all three branches of the national
government have played a role in this shifting
nature of federalism.
o The first large shift occurred after the U.S. Civil War when Congress ratified
the Reconstruction Amendments, which abolished slavery, granted
citizenship to formerly enslaved people, and secured the voting rights of
Black men.
o During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt expanded the influence of
the presidency in response to that economic crisis.
o By the 1950s, the Supreme Court made several landmark decisions that
granted more power to the national government to protect the rights and
liberties of citizens.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

• Each state in the United States must recognize
the authority of other states
• Example-
oDrivers Licenses (You can drive in a different state
with an out of state license)
oState laws can differ over child custody or how
lawsuits are settled, the Federal Government can
make laws to resolve these differences
oYou can have a fishing license for PA but that does
not apply to other states

Why do you think states
need to recognize the
authority of other states?

Multiple Choice

Which answer choice best completes the following statement?

"The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires states to ________."

• rule the same way in all court proceedings

• recognize the laws and authority of the other states

• create the same public documents for residents of other states

Privileges & Immunities

• This guarantees that citizens of each state are granted the "rights and privileges and immunities," in another state
• This is why you can travel freely from state to state
• However, states are not obligated to grant all state rights to non-state residents
o Example- Only PA residents have the right to vote in PA Elections or a non-resident of PA is not entitled to discounted college tuition in PA state colleges
• The 2nd part of the Article addresses Extradition- the process of returning people accused of a crime to the state in which the
person was charged
• The final clause of the Article was made invalid by the 13th Amendment (Which abolished slavery)

Marriage Laws and the Constitution

• States have the authority to create their own
laws if they do not contradict federal laws
• Marriage laws are an example of individual
state laws that can be passed
o Examples- Fees, Wait times, Blood Tests (no states now require a blood test) and Age Requirements vary from state to state
• According to Article IV (4) states must give full
faith and credit to marriages granted by other
states
• In 1991 a court case form Hawaii regarding
same-sex marriages created a constitutional
and public debate
• While the case was in state court the people of
Hawaii approved an amendment to the state
Constitution limiting marriage to different-sex
couples only

Same Sex Marriage

• The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton
o It allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages (thus not following the Full Faith And Credit Clause)
o It also defined marriage as the union between a man and woman

• President George W. Bush called for a constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to one man and one women (did not have a lot of political support)
• In 2011 the Justice Department (under President Obama) said that it would not defend DOMA in court
o Believed it to be unconstitutional due to discriminating people based on sexual orientation

• Part of DOMA was declared unconstitutional in 2013
o United States v. Windsor (2011), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government did not provide due process and equal treatment under the law (they were taxing them differently)
o Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)- the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was a civil right protected by the 5th and 14th Amendments

• DOMA was officially repealed with the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA)- signed into law by President Biden
o It requires the federal government, all US states and territories to officially recognize the validity of same-sex marriage it also protects the 1st Amendment protections for religious groups who do not recognize it

Admission of New States

• Article IV (4), Section 3 explains how
Congress can make territories into new
states
• You can’t make a state inside of another
state's boundaries and you cannot combine parts of existing states unless both state legislatures and Congress agrees
• Some constitutional scholars argue that states do not have this authority actually
• Most states have achieved statehood through the Enabling Act- a law that authorizes a territory to write a constitution and form a representative government

Multiple Select

What factors might hurt the chances of a territory being granted statehood? Choose the 3 correct answers

• Its status as a state might alter political party majorities in Congress

• It has excess poverty that would cost the United States too many resources to absorb

• It has a system of government that is in conflict with the US Constitution

• The majority of residents vote to petition for statehood

Today the United States has 14 territories

​

The Territories Of The United States

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• Today the United States claims possession of 14 territories, most of them are Pacific Islands with no population
• Puerto Rico became a US Territory in 1898 after the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War
o There are over 3,322,000 million people that live there (more than 19 states already in the US)
o Residents of Puerto Rico have been campaigning for US Statehood
o They currently have no voting representation in the Congress
o Puerto Rico has held six Referendums- questions presented on a ballot during an election in which voters can decide a political question
 Three Questions Have Been on the Referendum-
• Remain a territory of the United States
• Apply for statehood
• Become an Independent Nation

• In 2020 they were asked "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" Yes or No
o 52% of the population that voted was for statehood

• Not likely to be admitted soon as it would change the political influence of the major political parties

How to become the 51st State...Continued

Essential Question- How does Article IV of the Constitution address contemporary issues in the United States?

• Article IV establishes the relationship between the states with two major clauses—the Full Faith and
Credit Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

• The differences in same-sex marriage laws revealed a conflict between state laws that was resolved through Supreme Court rulings and legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president.

• Although Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have actively sought statehood, political division in
Congress has stalled the possibility of the addition of new states.

What's Happening Next- In the upcoming lesson, you will examine how the U.S. Constitution establishes the supreme law of the land.