Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines

Description

Must a state in which gay marriage is not legal recognize such a marriage performed in another state? The Constitution does not require recognition in all cases, but it does forbid states from nullifying family relationships based in other states, or from making themselves havens for people who are trying to escape obligations to their spouses and children. In this book, Andrew Koppelman offers workable legal solutions to the problems that arise when gay couples cross state borders. Drawing on historical precedents in which states held radically different moral views about marriage (for example, between kin, very young individuals, and interracial couples), Koppelman shows which state laws should govern in specific situations as gay couples travel or move from place to place. Americans are profoundly divided over same-sex marriage, and now that gay civil unions and marriages are legal in some states, the issue has become increasingly urgent. Koppelman offers a sensible approach that will appeal to the best instincts of both sides. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction I .How We Got Here II. Marriage, Choice of Law, and Public Policy III. Miscegenation in the Conflict of Laws IV. The Stakes V. Against Blanket Nonrecognition VI. Choice of Law Rules: The Options VII. When to (and When Not to) Recognize Same-Sex Marriages VIII. The Irrelevance of Full Faith and Credit and the Defense of Marriage Act IX .The Difference the Mini-DOMAs Make X .Toward Benign Competition Notes Index