1. Relations among the States Unit 5 Part 2

2. Did you know? The last two states to join the Union were admitted in the same year – 1959. Hawaii and Alaska were the two states admitted. These two states also have something else in common that distinguishes them from all other states! They do not have a common border with any other state.

3. Interstate Relations Article IV of the constitution requires the states to do the following:  Give “full faith and credit” to laws, records, and court decisions of other states.  Give one another’s citizens all the “privileges and immunities” of their own citizens  Criminals fleeing to other states may be returned to their home state by extradition – the legal process through which one state government surrenders an accused criminal to another state government.

4. “Full Faith and Credit” The constitution states that “full faith and credit” shall be given in each state to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state – translation ~ each state must recognize the laws and legal proceedings in other states. This clause applies to civil laws. Civil Laws are laws relating to disputes between individuals, groups, or with a state. *One state cannot enforce another state’s criminal laws.

5. Types of Coverage of “Full Faith and Credit” Public Acts ~ public acts refers to civil laws passed by sate legislatures. Records ~ records cover various types of documents such as mortgages, deeds, leases, wills, marriage licenses, car registrations, and birth certificates. Judicial Proceedings ~ the phrase judicial proceedings refers to various court actions such as judgments to pay a debt.

6. Privileges and Immunities Each state must treat citizens of other states equally with its own citizens and not discriminate against them, though nonresidents may not enjoy all the rights of state citizens.

7. Interstate Compacts ~ States must settle their differences with one another without the use of force using interstate compacts. These compacts are written agreements between two or more states; the national government or foreign countries may also be part of an interstate compact.

8. Interstate Compacts ~ Congress must approve interstate compacts for them to be legal. Today nearly 200 compacts are enforced dealing with issues such as pollution, pest control, toll bridges, disposal of hazardous waste, and transportation.

9. Lawsuits between States ~ When states can’t solve their problems using interstate compacts they may use other methods such as interstate lawsuits. Since 1789, 220 disputes between states have wound up in courts. Lawsuits brought by a state against another state (suits involving 2 or more states) are tried in the Supreme Court.