mr. whalen. mr. whalen: mr. chief justice, and may it please the court, the fourteenth amendment does not require states with traditional marriage laws to recognize marriages from other states between two persons of the same sex. justice scalia: what about article iv? i'm so glad to be able to quote a portion of the constitution that actually seems to be relevant. "full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state." now, why doesn't that apply? mr. whalen: your honor, this court's cases have made clear that the court draws a distinction between judgments between states and the laws of each state. and the reason in part that the court's decisions have said that is that otherwise, each state would be able to essentially legislate for every other state. justice scalia: public acts? it would include the act of marrying people, i assume. mr. whalen: my understanding of this court's decisions as the reference in the constitution to public acts

mr. whalen the 14th amendment doesn't -- [ inaudible ] >> what about article 4? i'm so glad to be able to quote a portion of the constitution that actually seems to be relevant. full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. now, why doesn't that apply? >> your honor, this court's cases have made clear that the court draws a distinction between judgments between states and the laws of each state. and the reason in part that the court's decisions have said that, is that otherwise each state would be able to essentially legislate for every other state. >> public act, it would include the act of marrying people i assume. >> my understanding of this court's decision, the reference in the constitution to public act systems is each state's laws. >> so there's nothing in the constitution that requires a state to acknowledge even those marriages in other states that are the same? >> that's essential correct your honor. >> really? >> under this court's decisions, that's essentially right. unde