Article IV:
State Relations
Summary
All acts, records and judicial proceedings carried out in one State must be accepted by the others. The Congress may proscribe how they are to be written, interpreted and enforced. All citizens are entitled to the same privileges and protections, no matter where within the Nation they live. However, if they commit treason, felony, or other crime, and flee to another State they may be extradited to the State having jurisdiction for the crime.
New States may be admitted into the Union with the consent of Congress. Large States may be subdivided into two or more smaller States under certain conditions, with the consent of Congress and their own Legislature. Smaller states give their citizens more per capita representation in the Senate.
Congress has power to dispose of and make rules and regulations regarding its territories and other properties. The Nation shall protect each State against invasion and, upon application of its legislature or the executive, against domestic violence.
Provisions
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Section IV.1.
inter-state comity
IV.1.1. Faith and Credit to other State
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effects thereof. (U.S.C. IV.1.1.)
- States must recognize each other’s public acts, records and judicial proceedings. It creates a single Union with common procedures for relations among them.
- Decisions made on behalf of people of one State must be accepted in the others.
- People cannot avoid liabilities and responsibilities simply by moving to another State.
- For conformity, ease of communication, and to reduce confusion and waste, Congress may define steps the States must follow when they prepare official papers.
- Congress may also declare how laws made in one State are interpreted or obeyed in another.
Section IV.2.
Duties of States to each Other
IV.2.1. Equal Privileges and Immunities
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. (U.S.C. IV.2.1.)
- Every citizen has all the rights and privileges of every other citizen throughout the Nation. Among these are: safety under the laws; the right to enjoy life and liberty; the right to acquire, possess and dispose of property; freedom to pursue happiness; the right to pass through and reside in any State; to move freely among them for trade, agriculture and professional pursuits; the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; and, freedom from unnecessary searches and seizures.
- Conflicts of privileges or immunities between States are decided in the National courts.
- This clause does not mean that citizens from another State have equal access to a State’s property and institutions.
IV.2.2. Extradition
A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. (U.S.C. IV.2.2.)
- States can demand the return of a criminal, who has fled to a different State, to be tried and punished where the crime was committed.
- The State to which a person flees has some discretion about whether to deliver the fugitive up to the jurisdiction from which he or she fled. The demand must be for just cause and the records, regular and legal.
- In unusual circumstances, such as when a sanctuary State is harboring a dangerous criminal, the Nation may intercede and force extradition.
Section IV.3.
New States and Territories
IV.3.1. Admitting and Creating New States
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; [and, whenever the population of a State exceeds the maximum (to be specified), the Congress shall, with the approval of the legislatures of the State, divide the State into two or more of approximately equal size and population]; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. (U.S.C. IV.3.1.)
- New States become part of the Nation and on an equal footing with their neighbors, including representation in the Legislature.
- Before a Territory is admitted as a new State, or a new state created within a large state, it must meet certain criteria, including minimum population and a constitution guaranteeing a republican form of government.
- Territories have the option of remaining a territory or of being admitted as a state. If remaining a territory, it has no representation in the Congress.
- With approval of its Legislature and the Nation’s Congress, large and heavily populated states may be subdivided into two or more. This provision keeps decision making bodies small enough for effective discussion, debate and action. It gives the people greater participation in their government.
- Smaller states have smaller bureaucracies. Their administrators are less removed from the people and can be more attentive to their needs.
- State sizes should be uniform, at least within a population ratio of five to one. Otherwise, the larger should be subdivided.
- Dividing large States into smaller ones increases the people’s senatorial representation and allows them to play a more active role in governing.
IV.3.2. Disposition and Control of Property
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. (U.S.C. IV.3.2.)
- This clause gives the Congress authority to dispose of any territory or property it owns. The Executive and Judiciary have no authority to do this.
- However, in practice, the Congress can give blanket permission for the executive or judiciary to dispose of minor holdings such as the sale or transfer of office equipment, vehicles, supplies, and documents kept longer than a certain date.
- Outstanding claims for or against the Nation or any State will be honored by the new government after signing this Constitution.
Section IV.4.
Protections to the States
IV.4.1. Guarantees to the Several States
The United States shall guarantee to every State within this Union a Republican Form of Government; and shall protect them against Invasion; and, on the Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence. (U.S.C. IV.4.1.)
- This clause protects the people from abuse and suppression by a tyrannical local government. The United States will intervene if necessary to protect their life, liberty and property, to remove illegal barriers, and to enforce its laws.
- The United States can also intervene to protect free trade among the State.
- No State can set up an aristocracy or dictatorship.
- A republican form of government, guaranteed by this constitution, is one in which the people freely elect representatives who take part in making the laws, and wherein State are directly represented in the Senate.
- Power is strictly limited by this Constitution. It is dispersed horizontally among the several branches of government and vertically between higher and lower United States.
- The referendum, a public measure or statute put to a direct popular vote, without a concurrence by the Senate, is disallowed by this Constitution. It would invite oppression of minorities by the majority.
- State sovereignty with respect to its internal affairs is protected by their appointment of Senators. The United States can only intervene to guarantee the people a republican form of government or to protect their natural rights.
- The United States has considerable power at its disposal to protect the State, including its own security forces, advanced weaponry, and the ability to call forth the Civilian Military Corps (militia under civil control). The possibility of an invasion requires this protection.
- A State Legislature (or Executive) may call upon the United States for protection against domestic violence if its’ own security forces are inadequate.